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WYSA OPENS FALL REC. SEASON
September 8,
2007
It may have
felt like midsummer outside today with hot
repressive heat that could have given
Windham residents one of their last chances
of the season to enjoy the many lakes and
beaches in the area.
For hundreds
of Windham families today was the first day
of the Windham Youth Soccer Association's
Fall Recreation season.
We made our
way over to Gambo Fields at 9am for my 4
year-old daughter's first game in the WYSA
program. The fields filled up early with
children all of ages running around with the
excitement of a new season.
For the girls
on my daughter's team the excitement of
getting their new jerseys spilled over into
the beginning of the practice portion of
their Pre-K game.
That
excitement paled in comparison to that
exhibited by the older siblings when the
snack bar finally opened for the first time
this season. All at once you could here
echoes of children's voices asking their
parents for money for a soda and candy.
My 4 year old
daughter was briefly torn between wanting to
play in her game or to go to the snack bar
with her older sister. Fortunately soccer
won out and she had a great time running
around in that amoeba-like cluster that
clearly identified this as a pre-k game.
There was
plenty of scoring in the game including a
couple "own goals" but the girls kept
giggling. At one point it appeared my
daughter and niece were involved in a side
game of ring around the rosie, which quickly
broke up when the ball rolled by and they
realized they were in a soccer game.
As we headed
back to the car for our brief escape before
having to return for my oldest daughters
game later in the day we remembered the
parents also get to participate in a
sporting event during the season. This game
has two objectives, for the parents coming
in for later games they must find the rare
parking spots, often times having to create
new rows of parking that almost block in the
other cars, but not quite. The goal is to
get as close to the parked cars while
leaving a little less room than is needed
for the other cars to back out.
For the
parents like us who are leaving during peak
times, we have to move the car back and
forth 20-30 times, turning the vehicle ever
so slightly until finally navigating an
escape route that can resemble a maze.
On my return
to the fields for my 1st grade daughter's
game I was pleased to discover I could stand
in between her field and another field that
had two fifth grade teams square off. It was
the best of both worlds, I got to watch my
daughter play and when she went to the bench
for a breather I turned around and watched
something that resembled a soccer game. I am
not taking anything away from all the
Kindergarten and 1st graders playing in my
daughter's game, but there is a huge
difference in the tactical play of 10 year
olds versus 6 year olds.
Once again I
got to see a lot of scoring. I was also
amazed by my daughter's newly found
aggression. The same shy little girl who
stood in one place on the field throughout
every game last season was part of the
amoeba and actually scored her first ever
goal! Which in our house means a trip to
Dairy Queen for the whole family! I was more
than a little disappointed when she told me
she would rather go straight home and enjoy
her Dairy Queen another time.
One of the
things I enjoy about Gambo is that there are
so many games going on at once. You can
float around and watch a little bit from
several games and get a good sample of all
the different levels in the program. Not
only was I able to watch my daughter's and
nieces play, I had a lot of opportunity to
turn around and watch the 5th grade game. I
was impressed with a lot of the skills being
displayed by both teams.
Despite the
heat, almost every player I had the
opportunity to watch was running hard and
having fun. I am sure that my girls aren't
the only players looking ahead to next
Saturday for another day of soccer,
socializing and most importantly, fun.
Ever
dreamed of being a sports reporter? We have
a deal for you, go to games involving
Windham Children, write something about the
games and/or the athletes and send it into
us. You can include pictures if you want. We
will publish it on
www.windhamsportspages.com. Best of all
we will thank you with your very own byline!
Leave a Comment and we will post them below.
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