Soccer: Game Fourteen, with Bonus Historical Ros Pics

[przed]

So, I'm wayyy late posting the week's soccer update. I swear things are getting more mental as the summer goes on. I've got a million projects on at work, I'm keeping up with the 6 a.m. Taekwando classes, and I've been scrambling to put together my schedule for the Toronto International Film Fest. We take Ros to the park after dinner until it's nearly dark in a bid to enjoy that last little bit of summer before the weather goes tits up and school starts, and she's been taking ages to get to sleep of an evening. In what little me time I've had, I've somehow managed to finish the first drafts of a vid (for the takethatslash Reverse Big Bang), and a wee little story that's another fill for my hc_bingo card. At least I've got no doubt whatsoever as to why I'm tired.

But on to soccer...

It was a really tough match this week. We played a team that's really come along during the season. Both teams were pretty tenacious and did their best. But they were just a bit more tenacious, and we were hampered by having a rotation that put all our most aggressive players on one line, and all our least aggressive players on the other. The one line held their own and scored, but the second line just crumpled every time and let the other team keep it in our end. It took me a few rotations to realize how imbalanced the lines were (I was working on the season end evaluations and letting my co-coach run the lines) and then we spent the rest of the game trying to figure out who to switch out when to get things back in balance and still have everyone play about the same amount of time. We never quite got it right. (I'll be checking our lines before the game starts this coming week.)

In the end the other team won, 4 - 6, but it was still a game our girls could be proud of. They all tried their best, and they tied it up several times before the end.

Now I've just got to finalize my evaluations of the team for this week. Which is proving interesting, since I've realized that there are one or two girls that don't really touch the ball much during actual games. (My co-coach confirmed that she doesn't know where to rate them either.) So I've given them tentative ratings, and will double check them during practice this week.

Evaluations are important since not only does the club use them to invite kids to play rep, but I don't get our playoff schedule until I hand them in. And that's crucial because contrary to what I originally thought, we have an actual tournament-style playoff this year. There's a round robin on the Saturday, and then the semis and finals on the Sunday, so we could potentially play all weekend if we advance at the end of the round robin. On the positive side, this will give the girls a taste of playing a real tournament. On the negative side, at least for me, the tournament is the final weekend of the film fest, which effective removes two full days from my fest viewing schedule. I've somehow still managed to schedule 18 films, though, so that's not so bad.

After posting Ros' soccer pic last week, I started wondering how much she'd changed in the four years she's been playing soccer, so I dug out her old pics.


2010, Under 4s, swamped by her uniform and doing the grimace she was fond of at the time. Also, you can see her cute pink soccer boots. She's had new boots like them every year since.


2011, Under 5s, the year she got a pixie cut. The grimace has metamorphosed into a bit of a smirk, but the pink boots are still there and the uniform is still too big. I love the Disney Princess bandage on her knee.


2012, Under 6s, the hair's growing out, the uniform is still big, the smirk is a real smile, and she's started her tradition of pulling her socks all the way up. She's wearing her Hello Kitty Vans instead of the boots because they started doing the pics inside this year after being forced inside the previous year by rain, and the school doesn't want cleats in their gym.

Comments

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Thank you for Ros through the early footie years here - will be interesting to see how she progresses in smiles, haircuts and footwear!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was fun to pull this together. I can't wait to see the progress in footie looks.

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

Ros is so adorable! I love her grimace in that first pic, like she's trying to look really tough and aggressive but the pink boots tell us another story, oh yes they do.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The grimace was actually the result of us telling her to say "cheese" for pictures. We finally wised up and got her to say "pizza" instead. Works much better. ;-)

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

It's such fun seeing her growing each year into an adorable child. Good thing she takes after Sweetie. *ducks and runs* LOL! You know I love ya.

[przed.livejournal.com]

You're so funny. ;-) (Really she gets the sportiness from me, but her fashionista tendencies are all her own.)

[dawnebeth.livejournal.com]

I have to say you are a way better soccer mom than I. I take Demelza to whatever sports thing she is playing, get out my novel and start to read, raising my head once in a while to watch her play.

Ros is adorable in whatever year.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoy watching her participating in sports and helping out with the coaching. But then I am, funnily enough, sporty myself. As well as bookish, geeky and fannish. *g*

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a hectic schedule! Very impressive keeping all those balls in the air at once, so to speak - good with it all and I hope you can all get all the sunshine out of summer whilst it's here *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's a crazy schedule. Fortunately it's all, or mostly all, enjoyable, because if it wasn't it would be tough.

The lovely weather finally broke last night, just after we got on the street car to come home, but we're meant to get a few more nice days this week.

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, she's growing so quickly! Love the pink cleats. They didn't have those in my day!

Yay for team effort! (But yikes about the evaluations. I understand why, but I'd find that really hard to do with kids.) Good luck with the tournament and the film fest!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I had plain black soccer boots. When we went to get Ros her first pair I was astounded at all the colours available now. We've got players with brilliant yellow and orange boots on our team.

The evaluations aren't huge fun--there's lots of "does that player deserve a three or a four in shooting skills?" agonizing--but at least I got very efficient with grading during my college teaching days.

[norfolkdumpling.livejournal.com]

Crikey, you are busy!

And those pictures are adorable! Ros gets cuter every year, if that's at all possible :)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Hey, we're all busy, but I have to say that this summer has felt especially hectic. (I'm so glad I left the Pros BB in your capable hands. That might very well have been the last straw.)

Ros is pretty adorable, in my completely biased opinion. *g*

[asilia.livejournal.com]

I've said it before but these pics make it even more obvious that Ros is growing up to be quite a beauty! You'll be beating off boys with a stick soon enough :D

[przed.livejournal.com]

I think the teen years are going to be interesting. The Sweetie is going to have to do some work on appearing more menacing to would-be boyfriends than he actually is, me thinks.

[togsos.livejournal.com]

so much attitude in such a small package lol

[przed.livejournal.com]

Attitude is her middle name. I swear she's 7 going on 17. ;-)