So- So Soccer

Breanna looks pretty bored and frustrated.

For the past five or six seasons Breanna has been on the Tiger Lilies team in soccer. She has a great coach who is very dedicated. He is tough on the girls and expects a lot out of them. We learned early on that when he yelled, it was just who he was. Some people don't like it though and only last a season or two. But we have always had a core of about six players that have been with us. The girls have always been a fabulous team. They all played well together and they RARELY let anyone score on them. Our defense was amazing and our offense always worked well together, meaning they helped each other score often. I think in the last three seasons we only had about 3 goals scored on us.

Well this season we lost five of our 11 players from last season due to moves, changing soccer leagues or whatever. Eight girls play on the field at a time so it is good to have 3 to 4 subs. Well our commissioner decided to change things up and he gave our teams 15 girls each. Which means the girls only get to play half the game. Unfortunately, the commissioner also decided to give our team 9 girls from the worst team in the whole league. So we have 6 girls that are really good and 9 that don't seem to know a thing about soccer.

We are almost done with the season and not only have we lost many of the games, the girls are not improving. Our coach has to play the girls equally but every time the girls from the other team go in they let the other team score like crazy. Also the ball is never at our end so the offense just sits around waiting for the ball to come up field which it doesn't do very often. It is so frustrating.

The worst part is that the parents from the other team criticize our coach all the time. They send nasty e-mails, confront him personally etc. They say their girls aren't getting enough time on the field (he does his best to give equal playing time, but their girls don't start the game so they are mad). Then the parents come to practice and try to coach the girls from the side lines telling them things opposite to what our coach is doing.

It has gotten out of control. I guess it is good for Breanna to have to learn how to lose. She takes it really hard, so maybe it is good for her go though this, so she can learn that life is like that sometimes, but it will all work out in the end.