11 July 2009

Not dead yet

Been away from the blog for a while, what with some travel, holidays, and other real-life activities.  In fact, I've been totally unplugged from the Hive Mind, and it's been quite refreshing -- no blogging, no twitter, not even reading blogs, by and large. 

Most recently I was coaching a kid's sports development camp.  Fun and exhausting.  My kid's going on seven, so they put me with the 9-11 year-olds, wisely separating kids and their dads.  It was quite an eye-opener to work with the older kids -- they can actually play!  For example, in baseball, an infield grounder results in a routine 4-3 put-out, not a "little league home run," and in soccer these guys were shockingly good.  Most of them had been playing for years, and they had serious ball skills, even if they did tend to lapse into bunch-ball from time to time.  

Generally the coaches played in the games along with the kids; a great way to learn humility is to try to keep up with ten-year olds for thirty minutes on a soccer pitch.  Worse yet, as a reasonably athletic adult, I was not automatically the best player on the field, and maybe not even the second-best.  Sobering.

At the end, I could barely walk, but there was one last ritual: the coaches vs kids match.  It was a one-one tie, but they had a goalie and we played empty net and without about ten fewer players, so I'll call it a moral victory.  Ronny beat his own dad to score a goal, and after that the gloves came off.  It was awesome: no holds barred.  You haven't lived until you've seen a full-grown adult run over a ten year old to get to the ball, and I confess I totally trampled Carson while making a turn.  Nobody got hurt, and everybody had lots of fun.

And I still can't walk without a limp...

Photo Credit: TampaBay.com Blog

1 comment:

  1. That sounds awesome! A rare way to relax, get exercise, and get over yourself, all in one!
    -Sara A.

