Temporary Coach

Shane's soccer coaches were both out of town. They said they'd cancel the game if someone didn't volunteer to to be coach.

I volunteered.

Shane and I left early and everything, but the roads conspired against us.

We arrived minutes before the game's start. The referee considered himself a professional, because he walked up and gave me his contact information (I guess I looked official!).

Another father and I organized the kids to drill a few goal shots before the ref called us over for shin guard and cleat checks.

Our team was vastly outnumbered. The other coach gave us a few loaners, so that more kids could play. The only problem was I didn't have spare jerseys or pennys, because I'm not a coach!

Shane was goalie, so I could give one kid his shirt. Shane's coat was teal-ish, so I gave that to another kid who was much bigger than Shane!

Good job, kid. I may have forgotten your name, but I will remember this picture of you in an undersized coat!

I probably should've given the coat to the smaller kid, but first come first serve. It would've taken time to switch things up. We were trying to get the game moving!

Shane didn't mind giving away his gear, because it meant he could only play goalie!

I didn't take any pictures after the game started, because I was busy coaching! My main focus was on keeping up morale, having the defense move up when the ball was forward, and calling out "PASS!" before someone got mobbed by a blob of players. The team largely ran itself.

 I did have to deal with two "injuries." One involved a kid sitting down for a couple of minutes before deciding he'd rather play. The other I wanted to stay in for the last two minutes of the game and just not run....guess what? He ran when he decided he was fine.

We lost by 1 point in the end. It should have been a tie. There was one weird goal we had that hit the crossbar, bounced straight down, and I swear rolled in, but the ref sat and stared stupefied for about 10 seconds before declaring it wasn't a goal. If we weren't a rec league and I weren't a volunteer I probably would've challenged the call.

But it didn't matter. The kids had fun and played well. With so many players missing we had no chance for subs. All the kids had to run the whole game long and they made it through. 

I told the team I'd only been their coach for an hour, but I was proud of them! The real coaches would be back next week.