Tonight, my daughter ended her high school junior season for the Garrard County Lady Lions soccer team. They lost in the worst way possible...they were mercy ruled, meaning the other team scored 10 goals more than them to end the game early. That's a horrible way to end a season. It's sad for the seniors and for the team and doesn't show at all the strength this team has when playing a team of equal pairing.
It was an ugly, rainy and cold night...and I got ugly. First of all, I dislike when both teams have to sit together. Our field is like that. All the bleachers are together and both team's parents have to sit side by side. Soccer can be an aggressive sport and sometimes parents can get a little hot when calls are being overlooked and players are playing dirty. It's awful when you have to listen to the snarky remarks made by the opposing team.
So tonight, I mouthed back on a couple of occasions. For instance, when they [a few of the opposing team spectators] were cheering for a girl who received a penalty for a dirty play and then when they [the people sitting next to me] started saying "Come on! Let's mercy rule them so we can go eat some warm soup!" Really?
I know not everyone will agree with me. Some people are super competitive and want to win BIG at whatever the cost. I don't guess I should expect everyone to be as nice as our coach but a little give wouldn't kill anyone either. We could have easily mercy ruled Casey County a few weeks back but instead of ending the game, our coach let the defense play offense, pulled the goalie out of the box and let her play forward to try to score, and tried people around at different positions. It gave the girls a chance to have fun and keep playing without causing a total embarrassment to the other team.
Boyle County came tonight with all intentions of mercy ruling us. They kept their secondary team in full warm-up attire throughout the entire game obviously not intending to play them. I don't understand, and maybe someone can enlighten me, as to why all school sports teams have to be in a geographical district except football and they get to play teams who come from the same size school. Shouldn't this apply to all sports? I guess in a perfect world!
I mean, sometimes I feel like our school playing Boyle County is like a private Christian college team playing a top ranked Division 1 NCAA team. They come in 3 benches deep, wearing their matching warm ups with monogrammed backpacks. Five coaches and a special breast cancer awareness uniform. To rub more salt in our wound, several girls from both teams played little league together and a few played with us through middle school and maybe even one year of high school.
Don't get me wrong...I love those girls, their parents and their grandparents. Some are Garrard County people and their families continue to be. I remember the day two of those girls were born and I grew up with their parents. This is not about the girls. They are awesome soccer players - the whole Boyle County team is a great soccer team! My daughter played with a soccer club this past spring with a few of the girls, made new friendships and rekindled some old.
Tonight...I'm the mama bear. The one who wants to protect her young. It hurts to lose! It hurt my heart to see my daughter, who absolutely loves the sport of soccer and who played her heart out tonight, walk off the field with tears in her eyes because her junior season ended on this note. It makes me mad because everyone [okay...not everyone...but several spectators] on the other team seemed to think it was funny and more important to get out of the rain than to let our girls finish with their heads up.
Was tonight one of my proud to be Dana nights? Nope. I let my emotions get the best of me. Do I mean for this post to be ugly toward anyone? Absolutely not! I've just always been free with sharing my feelings and I had some raw ones tonight.
This is what I'm feeling ... Sadness for a team of WONDERFUL sweet girls and two GREAT coaches who walked off the field drenched in cold rain, some with a few tears flowing, all hanging their heads in defeat. This is not what Garrard Soccer is. We had a great season. We just happen to be a small school surrounded by bigger schools and play in a very competitive district.
Keep your heads up. I love you all...I have faith in you...and next year is a new year. I'm looking forward to my Senior year as a Soccer Mom!
WE ARE GC!
