Ain't that a kick in the...head

Kayci would like to tell you about tonight's soccer game:

"I fell down but I was alright for 2 seconds.  All the sudden I got kicked in the head!  I had to go sit down because it hurt.  The game went good.  Except when I got kicked in the head.  We losed...lost.  We took snack today.  Ooh, and can I have my snack now?"

Mommy's unabridged version:

I knew we were sunk when I walked to our regular spot to spread out, and there was a banner in my way.  I thought, who are all of these people if there's only one other Red Hot here?  Well, it was the opposing team.  We'll call them the Pros.  They had a flippin' banner--seriously, and it's all downhill from there.  Once I realized it wasn't, in fact, an advertisement (thought that was odd for U6 soccer), I clued in to the fact that some overzealous soccer mom had a freakin' banner printed with the team name and all of the girls' names.  2 color banner, y'all, with prismatic--these people are hard core.  I felt like Ralphie, when the hubcap with the nuts & bolts goes flying...as I walked around the field to where our sad little team would sit, all I heard in my head was "oh, fuuuuuudge."  

After I got everyone settled on the loser's side, I sat back and took inventory.  If you're not familiar with Brenham soccer, everyone gets standard-issue black shorts and then a team color jersey and colored socks.  So that's what our team wears.  Not these little Hamms...they all had--no lie--matching monogrammed soccer backpacks, matching hair ties, monogrammed shorts (not the standard-issues, either), and special practice jerseys over their regular jerseys.  The practice jerseys had their team name, the girls' names, and the kicker:  on the back, each girl had several soccer ball appliques in assorted colors.  They were obviously symbolic, so I asked the coach (who does this purely for fun, you know) what they meant.  Each color was a different achievement, from attendance to goals to defense.  You know the Kristi in me was impressed as these 8 little dynamos lined up...in a straight line...and went through their pre-game drills like a well-oiled machine.  Our 2, no 3, wait, there's 4 girls went out and attempted to look alive, but it was sadly apparent that we had no pre-game drill.  Coach did manage to whip them into a line and get them to kick the ball, so the Bad News Bears weren't all bad news.  

But then the game started--3 on 3 instead of 4 on 4, because we're down to 6 players, when they all show up--and we didn't even have enough players there to rotate 3 at a time, so the girls had to play more than they're used to.  I have to say--our 5 girls, even the sick one--ran their hearts out and spent a good game in control of the ball.  They fought for it, man.  I overheard Jenna saying, "I like the feet fight!"  And she's right--that big ol' cluster of girls, all kicking for the ball...it's a feet fight, all right.  Tonight our girls did a great job of playing together, fighting for the ball, controlling the ball, and getting the ball down the field.  Next week, we'll work on kicking it in the goal.  But I was darn proud watching how far they've come since last week!  

As far as the kick in the head:  the previous author has taken some creative liberty in the retelling of this incident.  Kayci tripped over the ball in a feet fight, and went down on her knees.  A big ol' girl on the other team was already running and couldn't stop in time, so she pretty well ran over Bitty.  Her foot did strike the back of Kayci's neck, but it was a glancing blow.  Kayci got up immediately and shook it off, no tears or drama of any kind!  It was a water break anyway, so the girls were sent off the field to rest...it's not like she was so badly injured she couldn't play anymore.  :)  But her version is more exciting, can't wait to hear what she tells 'em at school tomorrow.  Is it wrong that she's more excited about getting kicked in the head than about scoring a goal last week?  Wait, don't answer that.  

So, Pros, you got us.  You creamed us...as Kayci said, like, 54-1.  (Maybe more like 9, we lost count.)  But our girls had fun, and the way they ran through the line at the end, you'd think they'd won the World Cup.  Sometimes playing the game is its own reward...well, that and the crackers at the end.  So play on, Red Hots, play on.  Win or lose, we'll be rooting for you!  

And Pros, there's room for both kinds of team in the league...you girls had fun tonight, and you played well.  In the end, that's all that matters.  It just goes to show, I saw the banner and the jerseys and the well, stuff, and jumped to the conclusion that the Pros were in it to win it, not play.  I apologize for jumping to conclusions.  But I don't apologize for making fun of all your crap.  Seriously...U6 soccer, not Brazilian national futbol team.