2-4-6-8 Who do we Appreciate? GREEN LIZARDS!!

Our boys just finished a fun-filled soccer season. So did Jeff and I. Somehow, Jeff and I got roped into coaching Charlie's team when they didn't have enough coaches for his age-group. I'm not sure how this happened, but the blame rests with Jeff if you ask me.

Jeff has never played soccer a day in his life, except maybe in P.E. You could say that I grew up around soccer fields, which is true. My brother, Chad, played competitive soccer all while growing up and I spent many a Saturday morning around soccer fields, grumbling all the time. I can remember being bored out of my mind and passing the time on any set of monkey bars that happened to be around the soccer fields. See, like I said, I grew up around soccer fields. I should note that I was really good at coming to clap for the team just as they shook hands and gathered around the snack mom for sliced oranges and a pop...yeah, I was really good at showing up for the snacks at the end of the game.

So, as you might gather, Jeff and I coaching a soccer team was a pretty hysterical concept. But, Jeff read up on the rules of the game and worked with the kids with his signature patience and enthusiasm. I delighted in running up and down the field yelling "Only feet, no hands on the ball!" with the most adorable 4-year-olds around.

We were the "Green Lizards" ( a name we chose because a friend was willing to lend us the "Green Lizards" sign she had made for her daughter's team the season previous). I have to say the Green Lizards were one fun bunch of kids. We had one little guy who incorporated his super hero persona into the game...so basically, Superman was on our team. We had another little guy who had the biggest heart and would run, not for the ball, but for anyone who had fallen down to help them back up. We had a little girl on the team who loved to show off her nail polish and pretty jewelry to me on the field until she realized the ball was in play and then she'd take off and score a goal. Another little girl started the season not wanting to ever give anyone "five", especailly not Jeff. By the end of the season, she was the one running up to give out "fives", especially to Jeff. And then there was our own Charlie who surprised us with his dad's competitive spirit and perhaps his Uncle Chad's soccer ability. He scored something like 6 goals in his first game. After the game, I complimented him and said, "You are pretty good at soccer like Uncle Chad." He responded, "How many goals Uncle Chad get?" Remember, I never really saw any of Chad's games so I made up a number. "10", I said. Charlie mulled that over and responded, "Next time I'm going to get 11 goals."

James also did well. He, a first time player, was somehow placed on a team with kids who had 4 or 5 seasons under their belts. I expressed concern to his coach about this explaining that I didn't want him to feel defeated before he ever got going. But, I was wrong, he was up for the challenge. He especially liked playing goalie. Goalie is all about saving the day and James lives to save the day, so it was a perfect match for him. I really appreciated how he admired the skills of the other players instead of letting it intimidate him. Whenever, he'd see one of his teammates do something amazing like kick the ball really far or make a tricky goal, he was the first to compliment them on their great skills.

Incidentally, Meagan spent all of her time "around" the soccer fields...she's well on her way to becoming a coach some day.