Mini-Mites: Final score 12-2

We got pummeled. I mean pummeled. Did I say pummeled? :)

My poor little team had a tough go today and were discouraged just two minutes into a lopsided game. We have a great team of mostly novice girls and two token boys and we played against a team of nearly all boys, some of whom had obviously played for years. Now I'm not one to say that girls can't do anything boys do, but the hard truth is that girls are typically just a little less agressive than boys. They just are. The other team had 3 boys who just kept running down the field and scoring. Over and over again. At 5-0, our kids were discouraged and the same few boys were dominating the game. They didn't play positions, they didn't encourage passing on their own team, they just ran and scored. They stole the ball from their own teammates, did some shoving, and even slide tackled our kids. Eventually, we were allowed an additional player, and then another. We still weren't scoring.

Here's what DID happen though. Our sweet little girls and polite little boys exhibited real ball-handling skills. They looked around so as not to fight their own teammates for the ball. They moved the ball down the field instead of kicking far and aimlessly. They helped one another. They played in the positions they had learned! They played soccer! I was so proud, I wanted to cry at the end. It was beautiful. Before the 4th quarter stared, with a score of 11-0, I told the kids that I was proud of all these skills they exhibited and reminded them of how they had each other and that they were playing well and to not worry about scoring--just have fun. I said "let's have fun and if we score, well then that'll just be the gravy!" My husband and assistant coach said, "Gravy!? Who wants gravy?! I want PUDDING!" The kids chimed in with, "Pudding!!!" which surprised me after our fairly low-key pep talk. So, we went with it and said, "Now let's go out there and try to score and then yell 'PUDDING!!!' when we do!" And that's what they did. Whenever that sweet team of ours finally scored, making it 12-1, they all cheered and yelled "Pudding!!" much to the confusion of parents and opponents alike! It was almost like one of those cheesy feel-good sports movies, but it really happened. To us.

Then the kids began encouraging each other with: "Let's get more pudding!!" and so they did. I don't think they would have been happier if we had won 12-2 rather than lost by that same score. They had bonded. They had not lost their spirit or enthusiasm. They had not gotten discouraged, but had found the real reason we play on a team sport--for the sake of the TEAM. I love this game, and I adore our team. I cannot wait for next Sunday and I am honored to be their coach.