This past Tuesday, when she normally would have had a practice, the team played a makeup game. Big Girl played in the entire game, and was WAY tired, but also was REALLY fantastic!
Their team had an advantage in the first half in that the other team was missing a few kids who were running late, and so we were able to make substitutions while they were not. But the substitutions, I think, did not make too much difference.
Big Girl's team has two boys and nine girls. And Big Girl is the oldest on the team, too! (She'll be ten just around the end of the Fall season, which will be her last with this age group.) One boy is very sweet, but when he started playing about a year ago, he had to really learn to stay on his feet. He liked to slide, like in baseball. So I'll call him Slider Boy. The other boy is only eight, but is very tall. (I thought he was closer to Big Girl's age, and we wondered how he hadn't moved up yet, since boys must move up when they are nine while girls can stay until they are ten.) I'll call him Andre (like the Giant - ha ha! - he's as gentle, too). There's also a girl who is new to the team, and she's teeny tiny, but - WOW! - what defense! She's unafraid of all the bigger kids, too! She's Firecracker - little and powerful. Then there are the Powerful Katrinka twins - who are actually not twins, but are sisters. They are the coach's daughters, and are both also very teeny. Neither of them are shrinking violets, either. Katrinka 1 and Katrinka 2. There are, of course, other players, as well, but these are our key players for the week.
Slider Boy and Firecracker both helped out on defense by keeping the ball away from the goalie as much as possible (did I mention that Goalie Girl was awesome, too, in her first season as such?). They did a great job of getting it back into the other side of the field, closer to the opponents' goal. Once over there, Big Girl helped get the ball closer to the goal, and Andre and the two Katrinkas all got within shooting distance. Andre scored the first goal, then Katrinka 1 scored another, and Andre scored another, too. All in the first half! It was really an intense game, and at one point, Slider Boy gave a mighty kick and sent a ball straight into another boy's stomach! Oh! The poor kid! His father hugged him while he wailed and wailed - it practically hurt my stomach when it happened - and after a goal was scored, the boy sat on the ground with his dad (the coach) until he could breathe again. Poor boy! (He did wind up being okay, by the way.)
At the half, we were up 3-0, and the kids were pumped! Big Girl collapsed into a chair and guzzled water and scarfed down some grapes to recharge.
During the halftime break, the missing players from the other team all arrived and subsequently played in the second half. AH! Much better! There was one more goal - scored on us - in the game, and plenty of back-and-forth action and competition.
And so Big Girl's team is 1-0 so far this season - a better start than last year - with another game on Friday evening. Instead of my original plan of tuna casserole Friday, I've decided we need to stop for a pizza on the way home. MUCH easier. I just wish fried chicken was meatless! LOL! I have a hankerin' for some KFC. (Actually, I have a hankerin' for some Roy Rogers' chicken, but there aren't any here - phooey!)
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