Friday, September 30, 2011
Mango Margaret Salsa 2006 - 2011
Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
Today I little piece of my heart broke. A tiny verbal knife opened me up ever so slightly and removed a tiny part of me that I guess I don't need anymore. Maybe as we progress as parents and see our children do the right thing without being told, part of our job as a parent ends. Maybe, just maybe, as we continue to try to influence our children positively and they embrace the freedom to make mistakes and be independent we are supposed to have those moments when we know they are growing up.
For the past two weeks I have been anxiously waiting for Ruby's first all school mass at St. Therese. Now that she is in kindergarten, once a week the kids get to come over as a school and celebrate spirituality, kindness, compassion, caring for the poor, and especially saying prayers to God and saying thanks for all the blessing in our lives. My wife has asked me not to share too readily my personal relationship with God on this blog and I respect her want of privacy. I believe all you need to know is that I have a relationship with God and even God thinks I talk too much sometimes. Go figure.
Back to the subject, my expectations were that I would roll into mass, sneak into the pew next to her, she would high five me or something close to this guys reaction:
In reality I saw my daughter age right before my eyes. After the opening introduction and prayers we took our seats and I learned over and whispered, "Are you surprised and excited that I came to your first all school mass?"
"Actually Dad, I was hoping I would get to go to mass by myself for the first time ever," she flatly responds.
Man, when she hits you with those giant brown eyes and the disappointment is palpable just by the way she is standing there you feel a little bad. I deserved the comment and I should have done a better job of thinking about it from her perspective. I spend so much time worrying about how things will affect me or in this case, make me look good I entirely failed to recognize the significance of this for her. She has been going to church for a long time, she knows all the calisthenics associated with the Catholic mass. She loves being a leader and setting an example for the other kids in her class and this was going to be one of those times and I took that opportunity away.
It wasn't that I'm not cool or that she doesn't want to spend time with me because believe me I was on the pity pot first. What's up is that the things we have been doing, and her teachers have been doing, and her grandparents have been doing, and her coaches have been doing are working.
She is growing up and taking little pieces of my heart with her as she goes.
For the past two weeks I have been anxiously waiting for Ruby's first all school mass at St. Therese. Now that she is in kindergarten, once a week the kids get to come over as a school and celebrate spirituality, kindness, compassion, caring for the poor, and especially saying prayers to God and saying thanks for all the blessing in our lives. My wife has asked me not to share too readily my personal relationship with God on this blog and I respect her want of privacy. I believe all you need to know is that I have a relationship with God and even God thinks I talk too much sometimes. Go figure.
"Actually Dad, I was hoping I would get to go to mass by myself for the first time ever," she flatly responds.
Man, when she hits you with those giant brown eyes and the disappointment is palpable just by the way she is standing there you feel a little bad. I deserved the comment and I should have done a better job of thinking about it from her perspective. I spend so much time worrying about how things will affect me or in this case, make me look good I entirely failed to recognize the significance of this for her. She has been going to church for a long time, she knows all the calisthenics associated with the Catholic mass. She loves being a leader and setting an example for the other kids in her class and this was going to be one of those times and I took that opportunity away.
It wasn't that I'm not cool or that she doesn't want to spend time with me because believe me I was on the pity pot first. What's up is that the things we have been doing, and her teachers have been doing, and her grandparents have been doing, and her coaches have been doing are working.
She is growing up and taking little pieces of my heart with her as she goes.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Getting Your Butt Kicked
It took me nearly 48 hours to get over the first serious ass kicking that White Lightning has ever received. I honestly believe I was in shock. It was like the past two years of practice and games and practice and games just fell out of their heads. I was dumbfounded. Ruby didn't score a single goal, didn't hustle after the ball, and asked if she could hang out on the sidelines with her friends rather than play. Are you kidding me?
I have come to the conclusion that:
A. having games at 2pm is not good for a bunch of kids who in the past year stopped taking naps. They look slow, tired, and unfocused.
B. They are five and six years old and losing has yet to carry any real pain.
C. Getting over to the playground after the game seems way more important than playing the game.
After the match I spoke with Ruby and tried to gauge her mindset or lack thereof. She pretty much said she tried her hardest (I highly doubt it) and didn't know what happened. I asked her if she understood they lost bad and she said yes. I asked her if she was upset and she said no and looked at me like I was crazy.
I think we are going to have a "soccer 101" practice on Wednesday and try to reset this season. I need to do a much better job.
I love these kids so much.
I have come to the conclusion that:
A. having games at 2pm is not good for a bunch of kids who in the past year stopped taking naps. They look slow, tired, and unfocused.
B. They are five and six years old and losing has yet to carry any real pain.
C. Getting over to the playground after the game seems way more important than playing the game.
After the match I spoke with Ruby and tried to gauge her mindset or lack thereof. She pretty much said she tried her hardest (I highly doubt it) and didn't know what happened. I asked her if she understood they lost bad and she said yes. I asked her if she was upset and she said no and looked at me like I was crazy.
I think we are going to have a "soccer 101" practice on Wednesday and try to reset this season. I need to do a much better job.
I love these kids so much.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Looking Good is Half the Battle
Naming conventions. That is what I am working on at work. I have been tasked to manage a project that creates naming conventions for all new opportunities generated in salesforce.com. If it were as easy as naming one of my kids soccer teams I would be done already.
Last Saturday marked the first organized team sport that my little Alice has ever participated in. Oh she does gymnastics and just started dance but as far as being on a team, this is her first foray into this world. Being the second child she has had the pleasure or torture of coming to Ruby's games, practices, backyard drills, since she could remember. You can tell as well because she seemingly understands the gist of soccer before we even had a practice. That puts her about a whole year ahead of any teammates who are the first kid or the only kid. For the ORANGE CRUSH we have four kids with older siblings and you can tell that we are going to dominate.
Our first practice/game was rained out and unfortunately I missed the update on the rainout line so I went anyway. We had four of my team's kids and picked up one who was as the fields but didn't have a coach or team (they must have call the rainout line). It was an exciting session of dribbling, running, kicking, scoring, and just having fun. We reiterated our three rules.
1. No hands
2. No kicking with your toe
3. No crying
We managed the first and third but the second is always a challenge at first. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun until the rain came but I felt like we got a bonus practice. We get to make this one up later so one extra session will just add to our dominance. My wife says I'm full of myself, she's probably right.
Finally, I would be doing a disservice if I didn't show you what Alice was sporting to her first game. Like this blog is titled. Looking good is half the battle...
and it helps to always have Curious George at your side.
Last Saturday marked the first organized team sport that my little Alice has ever participated in. Oh she does gymnastics and just started dance but as far as being on a team, this is her first foray into this world. Being the second child she has had the pleasure or torture of coming to Ruby's games, practices, backyard drills, since she could remember. You can tell as well because she seemingly understands the gist of soccer before we even had a practice. That puts her about a whole year ahead of any teammates who are the first kid or the only kid. For the ORANGE CRUSH we have four kids with older siblings and you can tell that we are going to dominate.
Our first practice/game was rained out and unfortunately I missed the update on the rainout line so I went anyway. We had four of my team's kids and picked up one who was as the fields but didn't have a coach or team (they must have call the rainout line). It was an exciting session of dribbling, running, kicking, scoring, and just having fun. We reiterated our three rules.
1. No hands
2. No kicking with your toe
3. No crying
We managed the first and third but the second is always a challenge at first. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun until the rain came but I felt like we got a bonus practice. We get to make this one up later so one extra session will just add to our dominance. My wife says I'm full of myself, she's probably right.
Finally, I would be doing a disservice if I didn't show you what Alice was sporting to her first game. Like this blog is titled. Looking good is half the battle...
Monday, September 12, 2011
How About White Lightning?
7-6 Ladybugs beat White Lightning
I have to be upfront. If you would have told me that my U-6 soccer team was going to allow five goals in the first two quarters, look like they had never seen a soccer ball before, and would forget which side our goal was on, I'd a told you, go jump in a lake. Although that my friends, is exactly what happened in the first half of game one of the new Fall season. To be completely clear, we actually scored two of their goals on ourselves or the notorious, "own goal". In Columbia you can be assassinated for this: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Escobar
I did not want to assassinate any six and under girls but I certainly wanted to yell. Amazingly, patience and encouragement seemed to win the day over. We are pretty good. Anyone who has read some of my previous writings on coaching Ruby's soccer team will know that we are pretty talented. I have amazing parental involvement and support. The girls all seem to like each other and don't mind being there (well most of the time). We came out the first half and just looked like we weren't ready for anything. It was a bit hot outside, the middle of the afternoon sun, first game of the year, and you could see the lack of focus on the field. Ruby managed to hustle pretty well admittedly and scored two goals to keep it reasonable. We limped into halftime down 2-5.
I got out my trusty whiteboard and tried to diagram the field and the way we were going. I used something like this:
I have to be upfront. If you would have told me that my U-6 soccer team was going to allow five goals in the first two quarters, look like they had never seen a soccer ball before, and would forget which side our goal was on, I'd a told you, go jump in a lake. Although that my friends, is exactly what happened in the first half of game one of the new Fall season. To be completely clear, we actually scored two of their goals on ourselves or the notorious, "own goal". In Columbia you can be assassinated for this: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Escobar
I did not want to assassinate any six and under girls but I certainly wanted to yell. Amazingly, patience and encouragement seemed to win the day over. We are pretty good. Anyone who has read some of my previous writings on coaching Ruby's soccer team will know that we are pretty talented. I have amazing parental involvement and support. The girls all seem to like each other and don't mind being there (well most of the time). We came out the first half and just looked like we weren't ready for anything. It was a bit hot outside, the middle of the afternoon sun, first game of the year, and you could see the lack of focus on the field. Ruby managed to hustle pretty well admittedly and scored two goals to keep it reasonable. We limped into halftime down 2-5.
I got out my trusty whiteboard and tried to diagram the field and the way we were going. I used something like this:
Whiteboarding and water seemed to do something. I also did my best to encourage and cheer even when I felt like yelling. I have to repeat, it's for fun, it's for fun.
In the second half I changed it up. I put Taylor, one of my new players to one of the striker positions and moved Ruby to the other rotation. We play three girls and then sub three girls and repeat four times with a total of 7 girls on the team. For my math sake we only had six girls show out of seven. For twenty minutes it was like soccer players crept into my teams bodies and they started to play wonderfully. Actual passing, goal saving hustle and defense, balanced scoring, and lots and lots of cheering. Ruby netter two more goals and our first timer ever playing a soccer game, Taylor deposited two goals in the back of the net. Two more rather weak goals were leaked in by our defense but take away our own goals and we have them. Thankfully, we play two more times this season so revenge will be ours.
My competitiveness runs a bit high at times but I have done better at channeling wanting to win, to wanting to have fun. As long as they keep coming back I we will have more second halves than first.
Oh yeah and our uniforms are white so I was thinking of our name being "White Lightning", your thoughts...
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Coach of the Year 2011
Sitting on the Board of Commissioners for the Southern Platte County Athletic Association AKA the Northland Sports Alliance I have the chance to meet so many great families, kids, and coaches. This time of year I also have the privilege of reviewing submissions for our annual Coach of the Year. I thought I would share the introduction and speech I wrote when we present him the award at our annual meeting. Please read below:
Often in coaching it is the things that the coach does off
the field that make the biggest differences on it. This year the Northland
Sports Alliance was again awash with nominations for coach of the year. This is
never an easy decision and it’s a nice problem to have. Lucky for us, good
coaches have good support from parents and this particular winner was showered
in praise by his team’s parents.
This is from Melissa Hagg, “I think that Bill Meiners
deserves coach of the year for several reasons. The first reason is the amount
of time that he dedicated to his volunteer coach position. Our son,
Bradly has played for the SPCAA for five years, and this is by far the best he
has ever played. The Bill took the time to learn about each boys and their
strengths and weaknesses, and helped to develop better skills at the same time
as building them up with kind words.
“The second reason he should be coach of the year is the
time he spent off the field to help these boys bond as a team. From T-Bones
games, to pool and pizza parties, he encouraged the boys to become better
friends and then better teammates. He even went so far as to employ strange
motivation tricks like wearing pink clothes and a pink cowboy hat just to help
motivate and encourage the boys. Well it worked we started hitting and so did
the kids who hadn’t been hitting.”
This is from Joe Hagg. “Our coach makes baseball fun for the
kids. He is a great guy and we plan on playing on his team next year. Put in
100 votes.” (Actually 2 both parents sent separate emails!)
Finally from Steve Barron, “I would like to nominate Bill
Meiners for this as he is the most upbeat, positive coach my son has ever had.
At the beginning of the year my son didn’t want to play baseball but to due
Bill’s positive reinforcement, focus on fun, and team building attitude he love
it. Not only was there a positive attitude throughout the team, there was
marked improvement from each boy on all skills, fielding, hitting, throwing,
running, etc. My son now has 3-4 new friends and can’t wait to get back on the
field.
Sometimes in sports the competitive nature of the games just
comes out and people can lose sight of what sports are really supposed to do
for our kids. Help them grow up well rounded, healthy, with a positive
attitude, and some friends along the way. Bill Meiners not only coaches the
skills on the field but he coaches the life lessons and values that sports provide.
On behalf of the Northland Sports Alliance I would like to congratulate our
2011 NSA Coach of the Year, Bill Meiners.
I am proud to be part of this organization.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Bugs Are Back!
Dribbling and kicking, scoring and laughing.
Hugging and loving, cheering and shouting.
The Bugs are back and they got some game.
Remembering things instead of having to retrain.
Keep your head up and pass to your team.
No toe, no hands, keep the ball on the seams.
100 degrees and the girls all want water.
Practice, pay attention, and you get what you want sooner than later.
One new kid who comes to us fresh.
Unspoiled by learning how to kick from her friends.
Spacings in important don't stand so close to eachother.
Pay attention to me and stop looking at your mother.
We lost one girl from the team this year.
She is playing club ball not so smart my young dear.
There is plenty of time to focus and specialize.
Why not have fun, play, laugh, joke and just socialize.
It's only a game and we will try hard to win.
Life isn't over if we let some goals in.
I'm pumped that the Bugs are officially back.
Fall NSA Soccer and we're ahead of the pack.
To all my kids listen up and you'll see.
Play hard, have fun, and here is to victory!
Hugging and loving, cheering and shouting.
The Bugs are back and they got some game.
Remembering things instead of having to retrain.
Keep your head up and pass to your team.
No toe, no hands, keep the ball on the seams.
100 degrees and the girls all want water.
Practice, pay attention, and you get what you want sooner than later.
One new kid who comes to us fresh.
Unspoiled by learning how to kick from her friends.
Spacings in important don't stand so close to eachother.
Pay attention to me and stop looking at your mother.
We lost one girl from the team this year.
She is playing club ball not so smart my young dear.
There is plenty of time to focus and specialize.
Why not have fun, play, laugh, joke and just socialize.
It's only a game and we will try hard to win.
Life isn't over if we let some goals in.
I'm pumped that the Bugs are officially back.
Fall NSA Soccer and we're ahead of the pack.
To all my kids listen up and you'll see.
Play hard, have fun, and here is to victory!
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