It's the weekend and today was the first soccer game of the spring '09 season. It's Chase's 13th season and today, I behaved myself pretty well, if I do say so myself.
Yeah, yeah, I used to hear about all the parents who would scream and get into fights with other parents at their kids' games and I'd think: tsk, tsk, grow up would you? But once it's your kid on the field getting pushed when the ref isn't looking or trying his hardest but having an off game that the other parents cheer a little too heartily over...you realize the insanity that takes over otherwise-sane adults.
Chase is playing on a new team this season--a stepped up team, if you will. It's in between recreational ball and academy (travel) ball, giving us the best of both worlds: the professional coaching and training that academy teams receive but without the high cost, intense travel schedule, and yearlong commitment. We're excited about it but today was the first game for the new team that had never played together before. And we were playing an academy team that had been together at least since the start of the school year, if not longer.
We won 1 - 0. The only goal came from a Chase-assist to his old teammate William. I might have went a little berzerk when it happened; I can't be sure. The blood pounding in my head cause some slight dizziness and memory lapse. LOL But is there anything better than seeing your child, your offspring, the star in your sky succeed at something they try so hard at? I venture to say the answer to that question is a resounding Nope.
There have been so many soccer games in our life already. Chase will play any position but he excels on offense thanks to his speed and willingness to take the shot or find a teammate with a better opportunity. So he has quite few assists as well as goals to his name. Probably the coolest game of his life, he scored 5 of the team's 6 goals to take a shut-out win. And then there was his very first goal.
When Chase first began playing soccer at 4 years old, it looked like any other group of kids who aren't sure what to do other than follow the ball wherever it went on the field--all in one huddled mass. Amazingly, considering the atypical soccer strategy, the kids still managed to score some goals. But for all Chase's running and a whole lot of kicking, the ball just never seemed to go the direction of the goal. My heart broke for him because he tried so hard. We did a lot of teaching about playing for fun, being part of a team, etc. But still. The glory in soccer comes from scoring. At his final game of the season, the two teams played their usual game of crowding the ball and moving like a hovercraft slowly back and forth along the field. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Chase kicks the ball away from the group, runs it about 10 feet toward the goal, shoots and scores.
I...Lost...My...Mind. I was jumping up and down, screaming, yelling, clapping, throwing my hands in the air like I was possessed. Or at a southern Baptist church revival. Naturally everyone was cheering but you could have heard me above a helicopter, had one landed there right then.
When the noise finally settled, you could hear my husband behind me standing with some other parents remark: "Wow, who's mom is that?" We all fell apart laughing. But I tell you, every personal accomplishment paled in comparison to how it felt to see him finally get that elusive goal. I can still see him and his teammates run around the field with their arms out like airplanes, their tradition after any goal.
We also won that game 1 - 0. And today, though there was no running around with arms out like airplanes and I've learned to control myself slightly more than then, the excitement was certainly no less.
That mother is a piece of work.
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