Category Archives: Sports & Coaching

everybody has their reasons/and one is always where they’re from

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Happy Spring, y’all. Here in Los Angeles, plants are blooming, my sunflowers are sprouting (as is my cilantro, chives, basil, dill, and aloe) and we’re on our way to sunshiny days and long afternoons winding into cool, short nights.

Soccer has started for another season, causing me to reflect on the last 11 seasons. I’ve been coaching since 2009, coached numerous sports since I was 17, I have been refereeing soccer since I was 15, and playing soccer since I was four. When people ask me why I started coaching soccer out here, I usually come up with a reason, but the real reason is that it’s all I’ve ever known. It’s who I am. It’s where I came from. Soccer runs deep in my veins, and life without soccer just doesn’t make sense.

This past week, the kids showed up on the field to learn the rules, play the game, and have some fun. Rule number one as a coach for me has always been “no hands.” Rule number two? Listen. Three is hustle, and four is “you’d better know the other kids names. Otherwise, how can you ask them to pass to you?”

These kids keep me young. Every season they ask me my age, question my choices for positions, and beg me to watch over and over again as they learn to punt, or throw the ball in, or simply learn to pass. They make friends (and somehow, always enemies) on the field, and someone always scores a sweet goal that ends in high-fives and consoling the goalie of the other team.

This week, we learned the word “abbreviated.” And “hustle” and what to do when the whistle bowls. We ran five laps. We played five minute quarters, and everyone wanted to play offense or goalie. There were tears, there were laughs, and everyone is excited to meet Coach B next week. I learned a few new names, and learned how to explain midfield in a way a five year old understands.

Every season I learn something new, learn how to teach things differently, and look forward to different smiling faces each week when I ask, “How was school this week?” and remind them, “I’ll see you next weekend. Good game, guys.”

Here’s to a 12th season, kids.

Coaching and me: a lesson in fairness, and losing.

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This picture showcases one of the hardest moments I’ve experienced in the past year or so. I am scrambling to pick five team members from my 20+ players to be the five shooters for our shootout. How do you choose a five year old, six year old, over another?

This weekend I had my last regular season game with my soccer team. Our coaches decided to have a game with all four teams together as two teams. I was the coach of my team (red) and the blue team. We played, screamed, played some more, got injuried, rocked ourselves back and forth, kissed elbows, rubbed knees, and quickly adhered bandaids to bleeding fingers.

After a forty minute game, we were tied nil-nil. So the coaches decided to have a shoot out. 5 players. Evening out the blue and red players. And, because I am the only female coach, making sure at least 2 of the 5 shooters were girls. I choose my top two boys, one from red, one from blue, two girls that had worked their hearts out during the game, and one blue girl that REALLY wanted a turn. I also chose a boy goalie, so we were 3-3 for boys-girls, and 3-3 red, blue.

This caused some ruckus with the kids: I didn’t exactly pick the best players. I picked the hardest working players. This caused the kids to become frustrated, which frustrated me. Why did we have to have a shoot out, anyways? Alas, even our best player didn’t make his shot, and we ended up losing the shoot out 0-1.

But I can tell you my kids cheered the loudest, and afterwards still wanted to know how to do a cartwheel and still wanted to tell me about their school days. Maybe I frustrated them by playing fair and letting us lose, but next week at the championship game, I bet the kids will update me on their math, reading, and favorite TV shows. And I bet they still smile and laugh. And this keeps me smiling, and content.

Happy Halloween Season!

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Saturday event at work, running to soccer to coach a game in pearls, getting costume advice from a seven year old, home to go to Target, getting a new calendar board for the hallway, going to Office Depot for a new board for the kitchen with picture frames (one of you and me, SS), going to Staples to get myself a portfolio, home for lunch, talking to my brother for 30 minutes about algebra 2 and life, working on the website with Jeff, a brand new spice rack from Jeff (and the Home Depot) that we put up Saturday night, and bed early.

Sunday farmer’s market, home, breakfast of omelet with heirloom tomatoes and onion, polyurethane on our dining room table, grocery shopping (trader joe’s and ralph’s), home for another coat on the table (but not before sanding), pot roast in the crock pot, laundry at the laundromat, home to a finished pot roast, another coat of polyurethane (sanding, too), a second trip to Ralphs for pumpkins, dinner of pot roast, and then carved four pumpkins. Corelyn’s is looking up, mine looks down. They are friends.

Pictures to come.

Five good things:

1. Carved pumpkins
2. Heirloom tomatoes
3. Finished dining room table, FINALLY
4. A new calendar, and new spice rack for my new spiffy house
5. Updated blogs.

Drop me off, Pick me up: Soccer day 1

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So I had soccer practice tonight guys. Man, was it a challenge! First off, I had to really be commited to the team because my friends all decided to go to the movies. Secondly, Jeff had a wrap party Downtown, and practice was the opposite direction in the Valley, and I was almost tempted to say, “Why don’t I just not go?” Almost.

I put on my new shorts, an old shirt (hoping they wouldn’t notice) some REALLY tight shin guards and socks, which I purposely put on before I got there so no one would notice how tight they were, and stuck my cleats (also new, but purposely white so they’d wear the fastest) in my new bag that I’d just de-stickered (seriously, Big 5, do you really need to put 8 price stickers on my bag? You’re ASKING me to look like a newbie.)

Jeff ended up dropping me off at the field, wishing me luck and heading off to his party. I took a deep breath and found my team, hoping they’d look tired or slow. One girl proclaimed, “I came early to run, so now I’m ready for practice.” And I got nervous.

To warm up, we dribbled up and down a few times, did one foot, then the other, and then paired up to do some throws. It wasn’t too bad, but my lungs were not happy.

Then we did some one-touch passing, which basically means you’re on your feet the whole time. It was good for me, but my African coach kept yelling, “You could be doing better” and I secretly was like, “I know, but you see, I haven’t touched a soccer ball and played on a team in nearly 5 years.” I didn’t, though. I just tried harded.

At this point, we were losing light, so we had to move into the outfield of a baseball diamond (that was currently being used.)

Did I mention there were only four girls at this practice? Including me??

Towards the middle, another girl showed up, and we played keep-away three on three, using our coach and another man who everyone but me seemed to know. It was tiring, and I was exhausted. We were the white team, and all I heard the whole time was “Come one white team, play to man” and I was like “5 years. 5 years, people.” But I just tried harder.

It was so good for me. The girls were nice, good at soccer, but not too good. I believe they are all a few years older than me, which is fine. It’s good for me to play with people that are better than me.

Around the hour and a half mark, we were wrapping up, and our captain was like “Let’s do 4 laps to cool down” and I was like “Umm, I gotta go!” Which was true–my pseudo-mom, Bec, was waiting in the parking lot. I was having her drive me home before she headed out to the movie with all my buddies.

Overall, I think it was OK. I did the responsible thing of coming home after practice, and I can already feel the muscles that are going to be sore tomorrow (including my arms–my arms?!)

I felt like a kid again, getting dropped off, picked up, dropped off at home. And now I am going to be responsible and go to bed on time! Tomorrow is diversity day at work, and I am not only participating but am also the “emergency contact” so I’d better be alert!

Wish me luck!!