GIRL POWER!!!!

I know my next post is supposed to be ten things I love about school, but I had to postpone that to write about "the soccer girls."

For the past two years I have been working the soccer season as a supervisor/timekeeper.  This has been something totally new to me because, frankly, sports and I have never had a decent relationship.  Not when I was a kid, not when I was a young adult, not ever.  So even though I have done a dozen different extracurricular jobs in my career, I have never coached, nor had I ever, before last year,  had anything to do with sports whatsoever.  It's not that I hate sports per se; it's just that I was never good at anything, so I had no interest or knowledge to coach anything.

But last year the opportunity arose to make a little extra money, and with my daughter away at school, I did have the extra time. Now, after having almost finished my second year, I have to say that it has been a great experience on so many levels.  No, the cold wind blowing across the field when it gets to be around 5:30 is not enjoyable, but the girls so make up for it.

I cannot overestimate how much these girls have impressed me with their tenacity, their fearlessness, their hard work, but most of all their dignity. When they are out on the field, they play their hearts out-really.  They don't think about their hair or their makeup or getting banged up or about falling down.  They simply jump back up and keep running, sometimes at top speed, up and down that field.  They help each other and cheer for each other and console one another if they make mistakes.  Sure, they play to win, but if they don't, there's no anger, no petulance among any of them.  They simply congratulate the other team ("Good game, good game, good game") and then huddle up with their arms around each other.

And so here I have been, the soccer neophyte, standing on the sidelines and being completely inspired by these young women who have accepted me with open arms.  They will often say,"Thank you for supervising us," or they will all look at me from the huddle after the game and call out in unison, "Thank you!!" No girls, thank you.  Thank you all for giving me the gift of seeing girl power in action.  YOU GO GIRLS!!