Our very first community league soccer match today, and Julia's team the "Lightning" won 5 to 0 against a Reston team. Perfect Fall day with gusting breezes, falling leaves, brilliant sunshine. A handful of parents in folding chairs, cheering. Excited girls, dedicated coaches. Neon-orange jerseys, laughter. Julia played "stopper", a roaming defender in the center in front of the three backs. And she did a lot of stopping, as well as making the pass that initiated the first goal. In the second half the coach moved her up to left mid-field. And from that position, she scored one of the five goals! She had a fantastic time, and we couldn't have asked for a better first-experience.
Yet we're all still learning. At one point in the game, every player went down on one knee, and Julia looked around confused, turns out it's a rule in this league during a stop for injury. She caught on fast. Both kids were somewhat appalled by the shortness of the standard-issue shorts (girls don't even really show knees in Uganda, let alone half the thigh) so we weren't sure if it was OK to substitute longer shorts, but gambled on it, and it was. I asked other parents where we should put our chairs, and tried to cheer appropriately So much to learn, it takes energy. And as we pulled out from the game, I made a U-turn and was stopped by the police. I wasn't fully in the turn lane, I was straddling one of the lanes in the highway. Whoops, another rule I didn't know. It just all weighs down at at times and is a little much. Thankfully the officer was merciful and issued me a warning, but no fine.
Now on to Jack's game!
1 comment:
Congrats Julia!
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