The Beautiful Game

Tonight is (my) first blueberries game of the season. I've been thinking a lot about soccer. Me and the world have, you know with that whole "World Cup" thing happening right now.  So I've been thinking on this sport that my dad put me in shortly after I could walk. Thinking of all the years I played and what they were worth.  Thinking of the season I had to pull out early and how I assumed that would have to be the end for me.  You take off 6 months and you come back out of shape, out of practice, out of confidence.  That's not the recipe for moving up in the premier world.  But somehow I came back with something else, I wasn't over-thinking it.  And due to a number of other details out of my control - what should have been my scariest, worst tryout - was my best.  I knew no one.  I hadn't been competing.  I was trying out for the same league that I'd pulled out of early last year. What were the odds? Low. I moved up.  I became a part of what would be my favorite team.

But what is the point of all those years?  What's the point that I didn't quit playing soccer in 10th grade? Well, I'm engaged to a guy I met on a co-rec soccer team.  And who knows, maybe I'd still have joined it if I quit back in 10th grade.  Then again, maybe not.  It's just delightful to me to look back and see that this thing that became a part of my life so early on - introduced me to the guy with whom I'll be spending the rest of my days.

I can't just leave it at that though - because I don't think the guy is the end goal of it all.  I don't believe who you spend your days with is more important than who you become - before them - with them - maybe even after them. This sport also crafted deep parts of who I am, taught discipline to my stubbornness and teamwork to my strength.  Taught me that sometimes it pays to sprint the field and be the only one down there by the goal.... but more often, it pays to wait for a good teammate to join you. Your glory might be less, but your score will most likely be higher.  There's nothing better than a good teammate that you don't have to see to know they're running the opposite sideline and setting up for you - nothing better than creating something beautiful with someone you trust.  That's what soccer taught me.  And perhaps it's fair to say, that's what soccer brought me.

I'm glad I didn't quit the berries that first season. That's another thing soccer taught me, part of that disciple and stubbornness. Don't quit.


I'd never have met that guy making dollar bill rings with Chris.

Bright-Eye-Blueberries

Going to miss our littlest Berry.  She's the sweetest of them all.

We celebrated Em's last game with a pre-game potluck and a post-game jump...swim. 

There's no one like the Blueberries.

.

3 years.... and counting.

I won't be there, but I'll be cheering them on.

This is a soccer team

of sorts.

 

Meet the Blueberries.

Can't wait for tonight.

PC: Mallory MacDonald : photographer by day, and defender by Wednesday night.

Cute, right?

It just keeps getting better. ;)

I got cleated in the first few minutes of last night's game.  I've been cleated plenty of times before, but the extra weight and strength of guys make this a bit of a new experience.  He dove in for the ball, and instead got my foot.  I'm starting to think I might need to get that little chubby blue toe an x-ray, but I'm on a more recent streak to not waste money and medical bills seem to be the fastest way to throw your money away on nothing!  At least he apologized after. : / 

Despite the foot - and the final score -  I had a great time playing last night.  Sometimes you're on and some nights you're off.  Last night, I felt pretty on.  I'm out of shape and found myself exhausted when I should be finishing, but I also was loving feeding balls through to the guys.  And I'm happy to say Erik finally put one of them away (finally! :P).

You know it's bad when as you close your eyes, you tell yourself:

"Just think of it as an extra long nap." 

It didn't work.  I still feel very tired this morning.   But far too giddy to really care. 
This girl is NERDING OUT.    Why not?!   It's really quite fun.  And the only people who catch that you're doing it, are the ones who want to themselves too, but are trying to play it cool.   (or aren't.)  So yes, under my button up is my amazing bow & arrow T from Kimberlee... my hair is in a long Katniss-inspired braid.  And in my head, I just keep hearing Effie say,

"It's going to be a big, big, BIG day!"

As I packed for my long next couple days this morning, it was twinged with some sadness:  my HG inspired jewelry that I ordered on Etsy, still hasn't arrived.  :(   Yes - I did.  It's awesome. 

Last night was our first Blueberries game.  We lost.  We've got a few glitches to work out.  But, then we went to some random tiny little bar, that I wouldn't quite call a "dive bar" because it's actually incredibly cute inside, and they don't serve hard alcohol.  Our waitress should have been called "Sal"  and I'm pretty sure she was disappearing to take smoke breaks every few minutes - but she was AMAZING.  Besides one other guy in there, we were her crew, and she made the best of it - and us of her.  Such a fun time - it always is with these people though, I tell ya.  Who knew I'd love those berries so much. 

Well, this is going to be a long day (and a long tomorrow) and both should be AMAZING.  I hope you all have a lovely Thursday, and...

May the odds be ever in your favor.

 

The Blueberries FC Awards Ceremony

I've come to really like these people.  They are kind, and hilarious.

Sounders FC 

Family Camp 2011 Soccer Tournament

(thus the ankle.)

P.S. I picked out the guys' shorts. ;)

Hearts are broken.  

Spread sheets... and live streaming. :)

My mom's shots of Saturday. (that's the keeper - in orange below - that let in the goal that cost us making it into the championship. meeh.)
It may not be a glamorous shot, but it makes me smile huge. I love being on the field with this pretty blonde gal. ;)

Mumsy's attempts to capture the size-ratio out there of me v. Shack. The picture doesn't do it justice. (FYI - This is why my dad worries)

The weekend rundown.

Tuesday: Beauty For Ashes, and then Adam's baseball game.

Wednesday: Soccer game.

Thursday: Baseball game.
Pierce's team was in town playing the Everett Aquasox, so a bunch of us went out to cheer him on Thursday night. The fans were pretty equally split, 50% Aquasox, 50% Pierce.

Friday: Tailgate and Baseball game.

Rose and I were the first to show up to the tailgate, so we kicked it with Kim's dad and a few strangers. We didn't mind. :) Have I mentioned before that I love this lady? :) A great evening with good friends, cheering Pierce on. The sky was lovely, when it wasn't raining.
(Rose brought her mit/glove(?) I was jealous. The boys teased.) (it kept raining, not raining, raining, not raining)

Saturday: Soccer, tailgate, Soccer.



Sunday: Soccer, (scratch the tailgate, not enough time), Soccer, BBQ (Brade's party).

In the end, we tied for 3rd in the tournament. The scoring is based on a points system, and though we were tied with another team for who would go to the finals, they were selected since they had beat us 1-0. The one game we lost. And all due to a fluke goal in the first couple minutes, a mistake of our keeper. :( Alas. Oh well. We ended up playing with a great group of people, and making a pretty strong team.

Monday: ..... tired. I'm tempted to whine about how I must be getting old and this is so much harder than it once was, the day after a tournament. But, truth be told, I'm kind of surprised. I'm not too sore. And when I was younger, I'd spend that whole next day sleeping. I'm not sure what it is, but a couple days of hard soccer games in the sunshine and your body is ready to shut down for a few days. Yesterday, after the last game, I felt compeletely drained, but in the wonderful relaxing way. :) What a wonderful weekend of sports and bbqs. Thank you Lord for the weather holding out (mostly). And thank you to each of you I got to see and enjoy the festivities with...I loved every minute of it!!

Dear Friends,

Elsa and I are playing in the Jet City Invitational this weekend. We play tomorrow at 9:55am and 2:10pm. Sunday, at 11:00am and one more game, time TBD based on how we perform in the first three games. Fans greatly appreciated. ;) Text me, Elsa, or my folks if you want details. It's out in Tukwila, but would make for a fun drive for a few of you together.

You can come hang out with my dad. He'll be the one standing at the end so as not to offend anyone by his uncontrollable shouts and jeers. (He might need a shoulder to cry on when he realizes that his little girl is now an out-of-shape old woman on the field.)

(There you are Dad, there is your official invitation. I'll email you the details.)

I'm EXCITED and nervous... I've had butterflies since I woke up. I don't know anyone on the team, but Elsa. So chemistry should be fun. ;) I guess I can thank you Dad, for forcing me to go to countless tryouts all by myself... showing up to a field of strangers almost feels normal (almost). At least no one will have clip boards, no one can cut me, and I'm pretty sure the girls will be out of that terrible catty high school stage. Once you've been punched by your own teammate, mid-game, there's really not much more you can fear from your own team. Right? Yet, I still can't shake that pre-tryout feeling. :0 (and sick as it is, I kind of like it.)

If it's not something you can fail at, perhaps you're wasting your time.

First Game for the Blueberries Summer Season, Tonight! WoooHooo! (I know, Blueberries, our tactics are intimidation.)

This weekend: Starfire Tournament all day Saturday and Sunday with Elsa.... and a bunch of strangers--- again, WoooHooo!

And now, talk of joining a Monday night soccer team, with I believe some old Bear Creek girls.

This (out of shape and out of practice) girl is happy. :)

Kim, want to go play sometime soon? You know I'm always down for another barefoot, backyard, soccer game in the rain! (If you didn't know, Kim Rankin was my coach for a year, and remains my hero still. You may not know this, but she's kind of a big deal...lol. And I have a few really great memories that involve her and a soccer ball.)

Last Night was our last soccer game of the Spring season. We got spanked. And the worst part... the most obnoxious girl on the other team, got a hat trick. I had no reason to dislike her so much, but I did... and that was before the three goals. I can handle girls who are a little more "manly" - in their walk, voice and manners. But when they're also whiners? Yeah, no. The entire team whined like little girls. I had to check myself at one point when one of the 40 year old men on the other team started whining that the ref didn't call a foul for him. Apparently he felt I had kicked him... I hadn't, and he knew it. He was embarrassed and was trying to cover it. He was a grown a man. I might have said something about him being a little girl... I might. :/ I considered saying something worse a few minutes later when he more than fouled me back. I didn't. Why? I'm not a whiner. Grown men shouldn't whine, especially from whatever a little girl like me could do to them. The ref paid him no attention- I think he wanted to laugh at him too.

That said.... we got spanked. And they whined. And the not so favorite girl on the other team got a hat trick. BUT... there's this really sweet girl on our team, and she brings treats. And they're awesome! I wish I had a picture of Emily and Chris to post with this blog. Chris is around my age I assume- he's our goal keeper and he's saved us millions of goals. And Emily is his little sister. She's still in high school, and she's never played soccer before. And she's adorable. And they're adorable. Pretty much my favorite brother-sister combo since Brade and the Unger girls. Quality people. And even more importantly, quality snacks.


Emily packaged them in these little soccer bags even, with fruit roll-ups, caprisuns and home baked cookies. I'm really hoping she plays again this summer! :)


Then, while hurrying back to the park and ride so Erik could get his car and go study for his final... we spotted a carnival. And if one thing is more important than finals, it is carnivals. We carefully chose two rides. The second we thought perhaps was actually a children's ride and were somewhat embarrassed when the man came to strap us in. A few seconds later and we were re-assured. This was no children's ride. The conversation ended. The laughing ceased. And in the silence we re-thought the cookies, fruit roll-ups and caprisun. Oh my! 10 minutes later, we were back in the car. Fun night... and I'm getting waaaaay better at this whole losing thing. ;)

Ouch.

Last night I got home from work and started skipping around the house. Yes, skipping. And giggling, like a school girl. My mom just looked at me. Then asked, "What?"

I had just pulled out my beautiful soccer cleats (and less so beautiful shinguards). I had, had butterflies in my stomach for much of the day, looking forward to the evening. I'd been wondering if I'd be terrible, or get in touch with the ball easily. Would I be so out of shape I'd be sitting on the sideline trying to breathe? Would my back be a problem and I wouldn't be able to really play?

I was so incredibly excited at the thought of standing out on a full-sized green field with full-size nets on both ends and 21 other people on the field. A real match. Referee and all. It was lovely.

Granted, the game it self was anything but lovely. We lost by 5. Yes. 5. I don't mean to brag in this, but I think people fail to understand unless they get this: I used to play for a great team. We competed in Premier 2, which means we were in the second highest level. Premier 1 being girls getting full-ride scholarships to Pac 10 schools. Premier 2 girls typically receiving scholarships to smaller colleges. We were good. Passing was beautiful, games were thrilling, competition was fierce, chemistry was.. science. We weren't the best, but it was a fun team to play with... because soccer becomes more and more enjoyable as your team gets better and better. The game is not what you first think, it is a game as much about what everyone without the ball is doing as the one or two on the ball. What runs are being made far-side, what diagonal plays are being passed, who is making a burst past their defender, seeing a play ahead. The more a team can create, literally a group activity of seeing what isn't yet, the more exciting and beautiful to watch. First, you learn the rules of soccer, and the basic skills, then you learn how to create, together. And that is when you fall in love with the sport. (I know basketball is similar.) There is class in soccer (though there are those who don't know how to play with it).

All that I just described... is not what happened last night. At least not on our team, or even really on the other team. We made them look good. At one moment I laughed, thinking to myself, every single one of these plays would be a "nightmare" on my old team, resulting in people being benched for the remainder of the game, and some serious yelling from the coach... or worse, silence. There's nothing worse than when the coach pulls you out and doesn't talk with you- either he is too upset to speak, or he thinks talking to you won't do any good, or he just knows that you know you've just behaved like an idiot.

I miss that. I miss having a coach... and amazing coach, who would bench people who played liked idiots. Who'd yell at people to hold their positions and stop all turning into Strikers. I miss playing with a team who was looking for the far-side run, and knew that I was going to cross it back.... who knew that my fault was not shooting and they could always expect a last-second pass for an easy flick into the goal from the goalie's back. But moreover, I miss the game, and I miss playing. So if last night is what I'll get, with one or two nice combinations of plays strung together in the front, well, I'll take that... at least for now.

After saying how great my old team was, and how less-great the co-ed team I've just joined is... let me just say, I fall far short myself. I was so out of shape that after a break-a-way, I was nearly too tired to actually get a good shot off at the end. And at one point, sprinting down the sideline with the ball, I nearly fell. Why? Oh, just because my legs felt like jello... like I'd run a marathon. Only, I hadn't.

Lesson? Get in shape Kati.

I think with this new outdoor season, I just might. ;)

Soccer. It is beautiful and thrilling. If you think it is not, hold your tongue, for even a fool is thought wise if he keeps quiet. You just don't know what you are seeing, yet.