Coach vs Player + A Ceremony (The Backlog!)

Sunday was the EOY celebration for SOKs. It kicked off with a Players vs Coaches battle royal. The older kids played first. We showed up halfway through their game to cut down on wait time before the younger kids' game. 

The weather was foreboding. "It's going to rain," Carrie said. She couldn't believe it wasn't canceled.

"It's fun to play in the rain!" I countered.

There was a light drizzle going on when we arrived. It looked like a competitive game! I recognized Shane's first SOKs coach from the pandemic year and numerous others.

I enjoyed watching. Shane thought it was boring and went off to climb a tree.

Shane tried to establish himself as an announcer. He annoyed one of the kid players and I could off and on hear them bickering across the field (Shane projects). Shane wants to banter, but he's not any good at it yet. I heard later it got to a "Oh yeah, my dad coaches wrestling!" elementary level.

Still, you have to be bad at something first to be good at it later. 

I was surprised by how many students I recognized. Three of my Computer Science kids were in the crowd (Jack, Heber, and Henry). Jack's older brother, Sam, was on the sidelines. I'd taught him my first year at Monticello (and he's the one who told me about the "wrestling dad" line!).

It was a fun game to watch. One of the kids, Molly?, jumped into goal for the first time and did a great job to the field's amazement. The adult goalie was Gabe's dad and knew what he was doing, too! Shane could've learned a lot, but he was mainly enjoying climbing.

Shane joined the kids when they started to practice.

He took to the goal when the game was about to start!

He was on the field for minutes before he was frustrated at my feet.

Shane started venting when I asked what was up. The kids were arguing, it was wet, he didn't really want to be here, etc, etc. He asked to go home, and I said no. 

Shane should have been out there. I was disappointed, but decided to take a more even toned route. I told him that the goal was to go out, have fun, and have a last hurrah with all the kids. He pouted, got pissy, and left to the pavilion to brood and angry glare. The rain started to pour shortly thereafter. You can see him next to the post and guy in the white shirt here.

I stayed out in the rain to try to be an example and make a point: It's rain. So what? I was under a tree, so I didn't get next level soaked, but you can see it definitely got me. I hoped I communicated that I enjoyed the game, as well. I wished he was out there with everyone else instead of throwing a pity part and storming off at the first signs of disagreement and discomfort.

Shane never went back on the field. He sat under the pavilion for a long time and tried to look away and avoid me when I signaled him it was time to talk about 15 minutes later.

Shane was full of woe and bitterness. It was hard, but I stuck to the even tone since it's what I started with. 

The breakthrough came when I saw a younger boy approaching a puddle. "Looks like he's about to have fun!" I don't remember exactly what I said, but by the end of it Shane had changed his mind about getting wet.

The storm clouds in Shane's mind went away and he was happy-go-lucky again. I was disappointed at his decisions around the game, and prayed he'd at least get a life lesson on deciding to be happy out of it all.

Sadly, we couldn't stay for lunch. With the forecast, on Saturday I'd assumed the event would be cancelled and rescheduled. Carrie fell asleep early and didn't cook Saturday, so she had planned and prepped to cook us a Sunday lunch. It would have been foolish to eat at the celebration and then arrive home full when she'd been prepping and cooking in anticipation of our return.

I wanted Shane to thank Coach O for coaching and Coach asked Shane if he wanted his trophy. "I get a trophy!?" We followed Coach O out to his van, but apparently everything had already been taken to the pavilion.

So we turned around to go get it! I really appreciated this season how Coach O treated my kid. He told me one day after a game that he'd requested Shane for his team. "You can do that?" Apparently, when you help run the league you can! He liked Shane's energy and positive attitude and wanted that on the team he coached.

We got the award, thanked the coach for the season, and went back home for lunch with Carrie. We were soaked, but a quick change of clothes fixed that! There may have been warm showers, too, but my memory is fuzzy. The main thing I remember is coming home with a warm, successful feeling that Shane seemed to feel, too.