Soccer Girl!

A few weeks ago on a Thursday Courtney asked me to eat lunch with her.  I had a really busy day and was trying to figure out how to let her down easy when Bryan talked some sense into me. So I rushed around to get things done I needed to and found myself at 11:50 sitting at the lunch table with Courtney and her friends.  They were a talkative bunch so it was pretty fun.

Courtney had been talking about signing up for softball and the girls we were sitting with had played on her team a few years ago when she tried softball the first time.  So I asked them if they were going to sign up again this year to play softball.  They said, "Oh no.  We are playing soccer."  Courtney's eyes lit up so I asked some follow up questions and found out that they are playing on the Galaxy competitive team.  One girl said, "We still need team members so Courtney should totally sign up with us."  They told me the practices were on Monday, Thursday and Friday, which would work for Courtney.  So I asked one girl to have her mom call me that night for details.

That afternoon there was a knock on the door and one of the girls, and her dad, were at our door to pick Courtney up for practice.  Apparently they were all really excited about the idea of her playing on their team.  I had to explain that Courtney was at piano and that I needed details before we could commit.  I got the number for the coach and gave her a call.

The Galaxy team was started by two Dixie State soccer players.  The guy coaches the boys team while the girl coaches the girls team.  They are a U11 competitive league with the goal of helping the girls improve while having a positive environment.  But they believe in working hard and conditioning so the girls can get through a game without dying.  I was really excited and it sounded great.  We have been really frustrated in the past because Courtney has been on teams with really inexperienced girls who just goof around.  And because of the cut off date, Courtney was always playing with really young girls.

The coach took our information and asked that Courtney come to Friday's practice.  I got her birth certificate out, took a head shot of her and got her all excited....

Then Friday morning I got a phone call from the coach saying that they had double checked the rules and asked the league and found out that players are only allowed to play up 1 year.  Meaning that a 9 year old can play on a U10 team or a 10 year old can play on a U11 team but a 9 year old can't play on  U11 team. The deadline was July 31st.  That meant that Courtney was 12 days off of being able to play on their team.  I was bummed but the coach told me that Courtney can still practice with the team, wear a jersey and play in the scrimmage games.  She just can't play in the regulation games.  She also told me that we wouldn't have to pay for anything but the uniform since Courtney isn't able to play in games.

Courtney was really sad but decided she would rather have a chance to play in scrimmages and play soccer with her friends (something she hasn't done before because they all have birthdays before August) than not play at all.  So we started her on games and she has been having a lot of fun.  Practices are hard and they are working them but she is having a great time and enjoys it!

I am so glad Courtney asked me to lunch and Bryan convinced me to take a break and go!!