I picked up Molly and her friend Mia last night from a pasta party her JV soccer team was having. First, we never did this when we played High-School sports but it's really such a fun thing they do now which is have a pasta party the night before a home game. It's fun to see the girls as teammates but also fun to see them off the field playing and being kids for once.
The three of us were talking about their big game today verse Palmer, our hometown rival. They were telling me about the recent twitter posts some of the kids were making. The competitive side of me came out and I simply told them leave it on the field and after they win then they can tweet away! Ironically, last night I was at the boys soccer game and my Dad and I were sitting with Coach Brayton, the boys soccer Coach from my High-School days. Some thought he was a hard ass, personally I think he was one of Monson's best Coaches of all time and had to be a hard ass with those guys he was coaching. So naturally many stories were shared about playing Palmer and Gateway and the best about sitting with Coach Brayton is he goes through every single play with a strategic plan. Not to mention he kept saying the field looks beautiful which I believe we have some of the best fields in Western Massachusetts thanks to our Parks & Recreation staff. Love those random walks down memory lane.
The greatest part about these two JV soccer teams that are playing today are some of the kids on the Palmer team have played on Monson teams with our girls and vice versa. Some of these Palmer girls I have also coached. So many friendships have bonded over the years even in this rivalry setting. I told the girls this rivalry has been going on for a million years and some of my best memories playing High-School sports was against Palmer. There was a recent article in our local newspaper from my senior year playing Palmer when their best player had a major injury. At the time we were out for blood and certainly not as skilled as the kids today. We ended up winning that game and I remember it like it was yesterday. The girl that left in the ambulance actually is now a friend of mine and man she was a good player.
I am always reminding my kids to take it all in and enjoy these memories especially the memories with their teammates. I loved seeing Molly wear her blue jersey to school this morning along with her other teammates walking into school. Still odd to me they wear blue not white for home games but change can be good I guess. I hope Monson walks away with the two wins tonight but most importantly I hope the girls have fun and play a great game of soccer! #gomustangs
Comments