Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Soccer

Did I tell you about Kiddo's first soccer practice on Monday? No? Well then...let the venting begin, shall we? **** To begin at the beginning, Kiddo had his first soccer practice this past Monday. He really had forgotten about it and I didn't say anything to him because I knew that if I did, he'd be too excited to eat a decent dinner. But, I suppose I need to start even before that... We signed him up nearly a month ago and were told then that we would be informed as to when and where our first practice would be and who our coach was. Tick...tick...tick. Nothing. So the day of the first practice comes (and I only knew the date because I picked up a flyer when I signed Kiddo up that had the meeting schedule for the AYSO figureheads) and still no word from them about where we needed to be and when. Finally, around 4PM when I was leaving work, I decided to try to call them...again. And as I was nearing home I got a call back from someone who apologized profusely that we had not been contacted, but stated that we were not the only family who was dealing with this lack of knowledge. She told me to be at one of the local elementary schools at 6PM and that the children were not required to wear their uniform, but that the cleats and shin-guards were vital. (Duh!) So we do our part and show up on time, with gear in tow and water out the wazoo... And we wait around, greeting the other moms and dads and kids we know and trying to find the coach. Guess what? The coach we were assigned to never showed up! Thankfully, one of the other coaches kindly offered to absorb the kids on our team who otherwise would not have been able to play. Kiddo had a great time, and never knew that anything was amiss. He kind of got a hint that we might have to go home and not play if the coach didn't show, but then the other coach took him under her wing and let him play with her. Crisis averted. I did, however, make another call to the woman I'd called earlier that day and voiced my intense displeasure (as kindly as I possibly could, because it was not her fault the coach didn't show) and requested that she please call me back as soon as possible. She called back just after 8PM and said again how sorry she was but that they were trying to track down the no-show coach and figure out what happened. Apparently all the AYSO big-wigs had meetings upon meetings that afternoon after they were alerted (by my call) to the fact that the coach was MIA. So later we find out that this coach had been called away on business last minute. What? It was so last minute that he couldn't make ONE phone call to let the AYSO know that he wouldn't be there so they could make other arrangements? Guess not. What have we learned from all this? 1) We know that our coach is a flake (maybe) 2) Our practices are every Monday at 6PM all the way across town 3) Kiddo is going to have an absolute BLAST playing soccer 4) Whatever hassles there may be, Kiddo having a blast playing soccer is the most important thing. After all, that's the whole point, isn't it? TTFN JMS

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had the same problem with them inmy area. It was recommended for Elisha due to his problems, everyone raved about how good it would be even if Elisha just ran up and down the field and thought he was playing, blah blah but no call - no nothing. So next thing we might try is track. Good Luck - I am sure Charlie Bug will be awesome!! XXXOOO- PS still waiting on my call from you!!! Mia

Pam said...

Jenn - our kids have been playing soccer for a LONG time, in about 5 different locations, and have only had something like that once. Of course, last year, Mat's team was told a parent needed to step up and coach or they wouldn't play!! So, Spence said he hadn't played since 1983, but he would. Pretty funny. Of course, at that age (7-9th grades) the kids know what they are doing. Sorta.
Anyway, we have really enjoyed our kids playing soccer. Now and then you get a really intense parent but it is almost ALWAYS a great environment.
I hope you get it all straightened out!

G. B. Miller said...

Back in the olden days, the important thing would be that the kind would be having fun just playing.

But.....not now.

Still, here's to hoping that he has a fantabulous time playing the world's number one sport.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if David Beckham got his start this way? App'tly Americans make great goalies. I think both Manchester Untied and Liverpool have American goalies. Hmmmmm I'm just sayin'

Love, UB