This fall, Heidi agreed to co-coach a kindergarten soccer team with one of our former colleagues, and today was the first game. The weather at the park when we arrived at 10 am was classic: blue skies, lots of sunshine, and a light breeze. The place itself was chaotic: cars were parked along the entrance drive, families packing their minivans to leave the first set of games, while others arrived for their own contests.
Ordinarily set up as two regulation soccer pitches, the green was now haphazardly dotted with a dozen or more small nets. Upon closer inspection, we could see faint chalk lines marking the space into six or possibly seven small fields. It was disorienting until we spotted the blue and red jerseys of the Cheetahs and headed over that way. A minute later, the other team arrived in their black and gray kit. It turned out that they were the Cheetahs, too.
The match was four-on-four, played in four 8-minute quarters with at least three squad substitutions per quarter. Neither team fielded a keeper, so it was open goal. There were no referees, and the coaches ran the field with their teams, reminding them of the rules as they played.
Of course, no one kept score. Officially, that is. I did hear a couple of dads talking about how many goals their players made. Even so, two things were certain: the kids had a good time, and the Cheetahs won.
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