Back on the Field

Nine years ago this summer, Craig Stevens convinced me to be his assistant coach in the coming fall soccer league. I had no experience in soccer whatsoever, but Craig did, so I felt secure in doing this with him. When I arrived at the coaches meeting prior to the soccer season Craig met me at the door with some very interesting news.

"I just found out that they are no longer doing co-ed soccer," Craig, the father of a daughter, said to me, the father of a son, "so that means you are signed up to be the head coach of Caleb's soccer team."

My look of horror led him to promise that the soccer league would provide me plenty of training. It turned out to be one of those promises that sound good but turn out to be too good to be true.

So, the first soccer game I ever attended was the one where I was the coach. I probably did not instill a great deal of confidence in my young players, or their parents, when I told them at the first practice that I didn't know anymore about soccer than they did. I later learned that this was not true, most of them actually knew a great deal more than me. Anyway, I spent most of the season exhibiting my ignorance as I would have to do things like ask the opposing coach who kicked off following a score.

Over the years I continued to coach each child's first year of soccer and then would retire knowing that I had exceeded my soccer expertise. I was honest enough to admit that it was time to send them on to someone who knew more than I. So, I would hand off my seasoned, yet only six or seven years of age, players to a more knowledgeable coach. It was for the best.

While, it would seem that each year I would get sucked back into coaching softball or baseball, and even a few times basketball, my lack of soccer skills kept the soccer league from asking me to come back on as a coach. It was always a bit like when Ron Uhles called me to coach football and I made sure that he knew that he was talking to "the Rick Anthony that he went to High School with"....he quickly said that he thought he would be able to "get someone else but thanks anyway."

Tomorrow, however, all that will change. The girls' soccer coach is unable to be there for their final game of the season, and apparently every other parent, and every other human being, on the face of the planet is busy. So, I have been called back to the game.

Coaching 10-11 year old girls is more scary than coaching six year olds! They have things like "off-sides" at this age. "Off-sides" is something that my children gave up on explaining to me years ago. It was hopeless. There may even be an expectation to win even though I made the coach promise to instruct the players and parents alike to lower the bar of their expectations almost to ground level.

Anyway, here I am, or will be at 9:00am tomorrow morning, on the team side of the soccer field. It has been many years since I have been on that side of the field. It has been even more years since I had a desire to be on that side of the field. But, there I will be.

Tonight the real coach sent me her suggestion of the positions for each of the girls. I, in turn, had to ask my girls what and where each of the positions are. Tomorrow I will send the Conner to Keeper, Megan to Sweeper, Grace and Charlie to Defender (left and right), Madeline, Hannah, and Madison to Mid (left, right, and center), and Nikki to Forward with Kyle and Natalia ready to be subbed in at mid, forward and defender. As I sit here I guess this means that Megan and Conner never get a break. As I sit here I have all types of questions....like "what in the world am I doing coaching this team?!"

If this is the biggest challenge in my life, life isn't too bad. An entire girls soccer team may need grief counseling tomorrow, but we will all survive. We will continue to dwell, and hopefully learn to dwell abundantly.

"I came so that you may have life, life to it's fullest?" (Christ, John 10:10).

Here I Dwell,
Rick