Awarding Awards and Soccer Muses

I'm making some soccer awards for my son's soccer team.
I have a few thoughts.
I am trying to balance the "Politically Correct" terms:
Best Defensive Player instead of Best Defensive Man

And the stupid awards. You know. "Most Improved" and "Best Kick" and the like.
I came up with
Best Striker, Winger, Defender, Keeper, Sweeper, Forward, Stopper. But I had to go with "Best All-Around Player" for one girl because she was good at everything. I almost used "Best Team Player" but couldn't. I don't want to do "Pat on the Head" awards.

I've seen those. Stupid. Best Sportsmanship awards fall into this category. I like the MVP awards only when the team votes on it, not the coaches or the league. I'm trying to decide who should be nominated for that.

Coaching soccer with kids is fun. I've had to deal with the petty issues. Divorced parents causing tension on the sidelines, obnoxious parents, kids that aren't motivated, weather, etc. I've liked seeing their eyes light up when I teach them a new skill or new thing -- and they get all excited, running and playing.

My two favorite things to play with them are two games. One is "Hit the Coach". Pretty simple. I give everyone a ball, mark out a spot on the field (usually the mid-field circle or a goalie box) and then let them try and hit me. It's a good workout. They can really kick hard, and it teaches them to strike quickly instead of waiting to kick. The other game is "Everybody Against the Coach". I can sometimes get away with this on half a field. Everyone plays against me. Oh, I let them make a few goals. I use my stopwatch countdown timer to give them a timeframe. And when some kids start to dominate the scoring, I'll say "Ok, the next 5 minutes only Max and Zoe can score -- everyone else has to help them or pass the ball to them." And then I force the other players (by pressing the defense on the others) to pass the ball to the designated strikers and we all get a learning experience out of it.

Ahh, Under-8 Soccer. I love it. My son is on the team and I've not really had any favoritism things. He's a good keeper and I think he'll want to play that position as he gets older. :)

More later.

CD Minded

Big Daddy Weave.
I'm not a big, huge fan of Christian based rock.
But when I find something that is cool, I tend to listen to a lot of it.
Big Daddy Weave. I was given their 2002 Album, "One & Only."

While it did have a bit of Blues Traveler mixed with a hipper Eric Clapton and tang of Sting, I felt that some of the album started to repeat itself. I really enjoyed the standout songs: "In Christ" , "Audience of One" and a few others. I liked lead singer Mike Weaver's voice -- but I enjoy the album more when he mixes it with other singers more. His lead solos are good, but a dozen tracks of it tends to get a bit grating. His harmonies with Jay Weaver blended well (are they brothers?) and the lyrics on "Audience of One" start off with a kneeling, gentle prayer that makes the guitars backing Mike's voice up soar over the melody.

This is where this band shines. I hope they can keep the message of their music on the same level as here: Not so overpowering that the music is left behind. I'm going to go check out their newer stuff...here.

Blogging Bloggers Bludgeoning

Here I am, two, no three months since my last post.

I feel bad.
My cousin has a blog. http://wjw.blogspot.com
He's been blogging forever.
Even did it on his church mission. (the sneak... the white handbook has nothing about blogs, the sneaky sneak. Oh, it's a "online journal". I likey. Wish I had done so)

So here I am, trying to blog more.
I think I will.

Today I'm slated to go and work out.
I've lost 54 pounds since June. Maybe that's what I'll use for an excuse of not blogging. :) http://www.jrmc.org/us/weightloss.html
My ultimate goal is 80 lbs. I think I can manage it -- but won't finish before the program ends. I will continue to work out though. Got addicted.
Love running with my son's soccer team. We've been playing "Everyone Against The Coach" and "Hit the Coach" as fun games. I get a good, 45-minute workout against eight 7 year-olds.
More to come.