Soccer Saturday 1/31

Another weekend of great soccer... and frustrating, as usual.

We started the morning with two 9am games again. Kadie had her first game and it started late thanks to a late referee team. We thought Lexi was going to have to ref for us, much to her dismay, but she lucked out. I almost wish she would have because the lack of calls was astounding. Then we were told that the ref has the power to decide what he will call and what he won't. So, it's ok if the players are offside and it's ok if they lift their foot on a throw-in, oh, and the goalie MUST punt the ball, she can't throw it. We got that one overturned but the rest of the game was full of uncalled penalties and that kind of inconsistency only teaches the girls one thing... "You don't have to follow the rules." Despite that, Kadie played a great game. She started the 2nd quarter at defense but played more of a midfield role. The opposing team only scored once that quarter making the score 3-0. The third quarter she played goalie and no one scored on her. The fourth quarter she finally was able to play forward but didn't get a chance to score. They ended up losing 3-0, but for their first game they played great. And the score didn't change after halftime, that's always a plus! That means they learned from their mistakes in the first quarter. Can't wait to see them play again next weekend... and here's hoping I don't lose my shit on an incompetent referee. Ok, ok, that's not fair. They are only human. But is it too much to ask for a little consistency? I feel like we send the wrong message to young players when each week there are different "rules." Maybe my husband should use his degree to start a new, and better, organization. HA! Wishful thinking LoL

Anyway, Jacob's game was also at 9am. From what I heard, since I missed it, they played great. They bunched up a bit but they kept the score close the whole game. Jacob told me he "megged" the goalie. Apparently that means he shot on goal and it went through the goalie's legs. Kids and their lingo, jeez. They ended up losing 4-3 but with only one practice, I think the boys have a lot of potential.

We had ref duty at 12pm and it went well. I think Lexi could have made some better calls, but she was the center ref and what she says goes. Only once did I hear a parent complain about one of the calls I made. It was a very clean game and most calls were very clear.

Following our ref duty we had Adam's game. Team Sub Zero ended up being a neon green color, not the blue they were told they would be. So we are Green Sub Zero LOL The boys played so well together. For being under 10 years old, they don't bunch up as much as some 12 and 14 year olds. Adam played goalie and was scored on twice. Then he played forward for the remainder of the game. He scored twice... once was while he was offside so it didn't count. He made sure to pay attention after that. He put up a good fight but seemed to be getting really tired. It was hot out there today and not enough wind to cool it down. The humidity was overpowering, as well. But, the boys didn't give up and Sub Zero Wins, 5-3! I could complain about the referees in this game too, but in case you haven't caught on, I'm not impressed with most of the refs. In fact, there are very few that I actually like. Again, I know thye are only human and they do make mistakes... it's just things like "the kick off has to leave the circle" and "the goalie can't throw the ball" kind of crap that doesn't even make sense. Where do they come up with this stuff? Keep it up and no one will learn anything except go out there and kick a ball into that net thingy... but then again, they already knew that part.