Like Tim, my time as a soccer dad ended recently with the
last spring season that my youngest daughter played. After 17 years, I no longer have someone to
take to practice, a game, or a weekend tournament! I can’t say that I AM entirely broken hearted
by that fact, ha ha, but I have had my share of good memories over that time to
last me the rest of my life.
Nicole, now 23, was the trailblazer for Olivia, my youngest
who is now 18. Nicole started playing U6
at Shawnee, and hung up her boots after 1 year at D3 Virginia Wesleyan. Olivia started out the same, finishing her
soccer career at Findlay HS and GTFC Impact this past spring before heading off
to USNA. In between all that time, wow,
so much has happened!
Unlike Tim’s memories, mine are not quite as specific. I remember certain plays still to this day,
but my memories are more of places we traveled, and getting the chance to spend
time with my girls. I can remember
Nicole making the best tackle I ever saw her make at PSI in Toledo, her GTFC
team won the tournament that year. I
remember when Nicole was 11 or 12 at the Elida Fall Classic, making a game
winning goal against Elida. Scott Laman
kept telling me to put Nicole up front, he was a much better soccer coach than
me!
I can remember Nicole playing in her first tournament in
Elida in the fall of 2000. I think she
still has the shirt! That was our first
weekend soccer experience, and the only time her Grandpa got to see her play,
at least in person. The next fall, we
sewed flags on the girl’s uniforms after 9/11.
I know Nicole and Olivia still have those shirts somewhere! After 9/11, I remember fighter jets flying
over us at practices, and yes, we stopped to watch.
After a few years, Nicole started playing at West Central
United where she met girls from other schools for the first time. Many of those girls are still her friends
today, which is great. The West Central
years were learning years for sure. Not
a lot of winning, but the girls were learning.
When Nicole was 14, a group of Lima area girls headed north
and tried out at GTFC. That’s when my
eyes were opened! Nicole managed to make
the team, and played for some great coaches at GTFC. We traveled all over the Midwest, Toronto
(twice), Orlando, and Phoenix for tournaments.
It was our first trip to Toronto where I introduced Nicole to sushi, a
food that she now enjoys immensely.
Olivia was introduced to GTFC at about age 10 when she
attended an indoor practice with Nicole and I on a wintry Sunday
afternoon. Nicole’s coach at the time
saw Olivia and asked her to join in a scrimmage. Olivia, being the competitor she was and is
to this day, joined in and played her hardest.
She was invited to join the U-10’s that spring at GTFC. I remember after Olivia wanting to play
keeper her first year at GTFC, but she was stuck on defense, and not
happy. Her Shawnee friends asked her for
come play in Elida that year, she said only if she could play keeper, lol. She did, and she had a great weekend, loved
it all! She did eventually get to play
keeper full time at Findlay and in club, a result of her ward work and
eagerness to learn. She did pretty well,
making NWO District first team her Junior and senior years! I’ll miss seeing Olivia come off her line,
sacrifice her body, diving to snuff out a shot from a hopeful attacker.
Some of Olivia best plays were coming off her line, and
snuffing out a strike right at the attacker’s foot. These were always exciting plays, and the
crowd loved watching her do it as much as I did! Then the foot save against Northview in her
last game. That was a great play and an even better reaction from Olivia. Anyone
who knows Olivia likely knows her as having a great poker face, and rarely
would she show any emotion on the pitch.
But after that save, she let it out.
I will always remember the miles traveled as a soccer
dad. Too many to count, but worth every
minute and mile. For you parents with
kids still playing, just realize that one day it will all end, and then you
will wonder where the time went! I hope
that my girls have fond memories of the travels as well, and someday when they
are parents, they do the same with their kids, as my mom and dad did with
me.
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