Dad's House » soccer

An Adults Only Play Date

dadshouse — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:01:39 +0000

I’ve been watching my daughter play soccer for more than a decade. First AYSO (they used to make daisy-chains on the field, during the game!), then competitive club (two-time defending champions!), and high school soccer. Watching her and the other girls grow as indiviuals and as a team has been one of the unsung joys of parenthood.

But how come the adults never get to play?

Turns out we can. There’s an adults only soccer league in Palo Alto, and it’s been around for years. Woo-hoo! I signed up for this fall season and played in my first game on Sunday.

Keep in mind, this is B league. Not Italian Serie A, English Premier, Spanish La Liga, or German Bundesliga. Just a bunch of men of varying skill level, some overweight, some graying, all looking for a fun time.

Since it was my first game ever (well, except for a year playing in my youth, but I had asthma back then and only got to play goalie), one guy on the other team felt he should school me. He received the ball, and I got into a defensive stance to cover him. His teammates called for him to pass, and he said “No, it’s no problem.” Me, no problem? WTF!

He made a move and went right past me. Doh! What he didn’t realize is I workout a ton, cycling and running, and I’m fast. I chased him down and took the ball right away. Ha. He wasn’t so cocky after that.

While I haven’t played before, I have coached two seasons of AYSO. And I watch a lot of Italian soccer. In fact, I prepped the night before by watching AC Milan on Tivo, studying the moves of Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho. (Like I did even one of his moves.)

Most of my soccer knowledge, though, comes from watching my daughter. I know basic strategy, basic technique, how to call for the ball, how to send it through. Give-and-gos, overlaps, offside traps – all these things are engrained in my brain. And I did them all. I even took a shot! (A poor choice, it turns out, since a nearby teammate was wide open and would have crushed the ball into the back of the net. But hey, it’s B league, so who cares!?)

My speed and endurance made up for my lack of skill. I definitely held my own in this play date. And even if I didn’t have Ronaldinho’s moves, I knew I looked good.

My daughter helped me pick out my cleats.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

Soccer, Friends, and Wine
Will Ref For Gas, a Dad’s House nationally syndicated post
Way Beyond Soccer Dad
How to Get Flat Abs
High Cost of Company, a Dad’s House nationally syndicated post
Single Parent
Maennerspielplatz – Men’s Playground

Will Ref For Gas

dadshouse — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:00:36 +0000

When your soccer loving daughter becomes a referee, there’s definite money to be made. Twenty bucks a game for several games on a given weekend is way better pay than babysitting. So when she doesn’t want to ref anymore, you know that something serious is up. What could keep a teenage girl from scoring serious dough on the soccer sideline?

Check out Dad’s House over on Silicon Valley Moms Blog today – Will Ref For Gas.

When you read it be sure to leave a comment, or I’ll show you a red card.

Okay, maybe a yellow.

Will Ref For Gas is a Dad’s House nationally syndicated post.

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Soccer, Friends, and Wine

dadshouse — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:11:06 +0000

Nothing like driving your kids to wine country for a soccer tournament, especially when you get along great with the other team parents. A totally different experience than taking a hot date on a spontaneous wine-tasting fling. But that’s the two sides of being a single parent. Wine and good company are fabulous ingredients, either way.

Some weekend highlights:

Soccer, soccer, soccer – we watched my daughter’s team play four games, win them all, and be crowned tournament champs.
Gooooooooooooooool!!! – my daughter scored four goals (woohoo!) and was involved in several others. The goal-scoring karma on this team tends to go around. In a different tournament, another girl might get those touches. My daughter looked great at center-mid –poised, calm, collected. She reminded me of Andrea Pirlo from AC Milan.
Ice cream – the ice cream man in his jingle-playing truck came by twice during one game, and we hit him up both times!
Swimming – whenever the girls weren’t playing soccer, they were in the hotel jacuzzi and pool. With other teams at our hotel, there was a pack of 12-year-old girls who took a definite liking to one particularly handsome long-haired board-short-wearing boy. My son the teen idol! Haha.
Enjoyable conversation – my daughter’s team has been together for years, and the parents are a likeable group. During a match, we’ll talk about anything and everything. It’s sort of like a cocktail party without drinks.
Wine tasting – okay, we were in wine country so some of us made it to a few wineries. Enough said.

Our daughters rock – over the years it’s been great to see each girl on the team develop her game and grow in confidence, maturity, poise. Two-touch passes, finding passing lanes, scoring off headers. laughing and enjoying themselves. They’re competitive, for sure, and consistently win. But it’s not a win-at-all-cost mentality. These girls just want to have fun.

I’ve been watching some of these girls play soccer with my daughter for more than ten years. And I wouldn’t trade my sideline experience for anything.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

Way Beyond Soccer Dad

dadshouse — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:15:28 +0000

When baseball, basketball, and football no longer hold their allure for this American dad, it’s safe to say a major transformation has taken place. My post today is over at Silicon Valley Moms Blog. Come see why I’m:

Way Beyond Soccer Dad.

If you liked this soccer loving post, you might also enjoy:

Will Ref For Gas, a Dad’s House nationally syndicated post
Soccer, Friends, and Wine
Palo Alto Adult Soccer League – An Adults Only Play Date
Father and Teenage Daughter Go For a Run
Wrestling – Sorry My Son Kicked Your Son’s Ass
Boys Soccer is a Contact Sport!