Jake With the Game Winner!

This afternoon Jake scored his first every goal for Pope John Paul as the JV team upset Perkiomen Valley.  It was the first goal of the game in which PJP won 2-0.

Jake scored midway through the first half.  He beat the PV defender to a 50-50 ball and went one on one with the keeper before beating him short side.  It was a well taken goal and I may have been guilty of over celebrating when the ball went in.

I was teasing him last night that I was rooting for him to score a hat trick but for PV to win the game.  (I can’t really root against my old squad, can I?)  He made a point to tell me after the game that I had to just deal with the fact that his school is better than mine.

 

The End of Soccer and Baseball, Yahoo!!

Saturday was a crazy morning for us. All three kids had something to do, with the boys both local and Abby in a travel lacrosse tournament down in Coatesville. Jean took Abby to lacrosse while I coached Jake and Brett’s teams.

Jake had his end of season soccer tournament over at West Mont, which had us on the field at 7:20 am Saturday morning. He’s not to good with mornings to begin with, but it didn’t help that he came home around 11:30 the night before. He went to the Reading Phillies game as a thank you present from Father Judge with all of his fellow 8th grade altar servers.

We tied the first game and lost the second game, which was kind of nice because my schedule would have gotten really fuzzy if we had made it to the final, which was scheduled the same time as Brett’s baseball game. Jake scored a goal in the first game and played really well.

Intermural soccer was a fun environment to watch Jake in because he was easily the best player on his team and one of the top five players in the league. It was exciting to watch because he’s usually the player that plays his heart out and works so hard just to get some playing time. To see him be the leader on the field was awesome; I was really proud watching him this season and I hope he can find a way to make the JV or Freshman team at Pope John Paul II in the fall.

From there it was over to baseball for Brett’s final game. What made the game even more special is that Brett’s team was playing Liam Haffey’s, so there was some bragging rites at stake amongst the Squirrel Boys.

Liam’s team ended up winning but if you know Brett, the score of the game really isn’t that important. All that mattered to him was that he had fun and we were heading to Burger King for lunch after the game. Can you detect a slight difference in attitude between Brett and his father?

Following the game, the boys received participation medals from the league. Brett also received an Aberdeen Iron Birds logo baseball, which I’m sure his coach went out and ordered for the boys online. Brett really loved getting that ball, and it’s moving to his trophy collection on top of his dresser.

Tunisia-Day 9

The last day of our trip began with a soccer match in Tunis. Jake and Abby both had wanted to take in a soccer game, and we were looking at doing it the second day of our trip, but we got a little bit of cold feet because we didn’t know exactly what we would be getting into.

Dorsey spent the balance of the trip asking anyone who would listen to him all sorts of questions about what we could expect by going to a game. We wanted to know how rough the fans were, how out of hand the violence would get, and most importantly, was it an event you could take a 10 year old girl to.

Tunisians pride themselves on how tolerant they are compared to other Muslim countries. Women are not covered in Tunisia, and most work just like their husbands. Tunisian women are able to hold places in the government as well as the most desirable professions (such as doctors and lawyers). However, to say they are thought of as equals to men would be a bit of a stretch.

Once it was established that Abby wouldn’t be too out of place at the game, our only other obstacle to overcome was the nature of the crowd. Once we learned that we wouldn’t need to worry about violence, we were set. We were also warned about the abusive language of the crowds, but since neither the kids or I spoke a word of either French or Arabic, we figured that was a non-factor.

We got to the game about an hour early, and the amazing part about the whole event was the energy of the crowd. The home team was Club Africain, who are noted to be the most passionate set of supporters in Tunisia.  They were playing Étoile Sportive du Sahel, who sat one spot above them in second place in the Tunisian game.  The supporters were singing as we walked into the stadium and they did not stop until the game ended almost three hours later.  The noise was deafening at times, and it was a great environment to take in.

Club Africain scored a goal deep into injury to tie the game, and the noise when the ball hit the back of the net was one of the most memorable things from the trip.  To see grown men around me in tears over a regular season game was really something to behold.

After the game, we picked up the rest of the family at the house and headed out for a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant just around the corner called D’Angelo’s.  Once dinner was over, we headed back to the house to celebrate my birthday a day early, since we were leaving to come back home early the following morning.  After stuffing ourselves full of cake, it was time to finish up packing our bags for the trip home.

The Far Post

After a 3 month break, my adult soccer league started back up.  We play Thursday nights at the Far Post, which is about a 10 minute drive from the house. It’s indoor soccer and the games don’t take place until later in the night, usually after 9 pm and wrapping up around midnight. It works out well because the action around the Mac Shack is usually winding down by the time I leave; Brett’s already asleep, the big kids are getting ready for bed, and Jean get’s wrapped up in Gray’s Anatomy.

It was weird taking a few months off; we wrapped up back in the first week of June and the only time I’ve played in the interim was during the Keystone Games in July. I was really excited to get back into the groove again.

Last night was the second week of the season, and my body’s still adjusting to it. I’m sore all over and it hurts to move around, but that’s normal when you’re 38, play keeper, and dive all over the turf like you’re 16. Between the late games, physical activity, and the short night of sleep, Friday’s can be a bit of a challenge.

Soccer Tournaments

August was the month of tournaments for Abby’s team and we spent the bulk of our free time hanging out with the team and parents. I felt a little for Jake, because he’s not a big fan of hanging with seventeen ten year old girls. Brett on the other hand thinks it rocks.

Of the seventeen families, eight of them have pools, and one other is in the process of getting one installed. The pool parties for the girls are events, with almost all of the parents making them. There’s plenty of food and drink (both of the child and adult persuasion) and they’re fun events to attend. All of the parents get along really well, which is important because of all of the time we end up spending with one another.

The weekend of August 15^th was the West Mont Tournament, which Abby’s team ended up winning. The final was decided in sudden death overtime, so it was really exciting.

The time commitment for the West Mont Tournament was a bit obscene, with the Cheetahs having games running from 8-6 on Saturday and 10-6 on Sunday. Throw in there a team pool party at the Walter’s for a couple hours in between games on Saturday afternoon, and a team pool party at the Temme’s on Sunday night following the game, and it was an all Cheetah weekend.

The following weekend, the Cheetah’s played in the Spirit United tournament in Downingtown. We ended up losing in penalty kicks in the semi final, so it was our first tournament of the season without a medal.

The time commitment wasn’t as bad for this weekend, Saturday was 8-2, and Sunday we only played in an 8am game, so it was a lot easier to deal with. Of course, there was still a Cheetah party at the Howarth’s on Saturday night that we weren’t able to attend because we were at a surprise 40^th Birthday party for Jean’s friend Kathy Kengor.