Soccer Saturation Point

It took three tournament weekends in a row to do it, but it seems our Burbank girls have reached SSP--soccer saturation point.

We drove down to Anaheim this weekend for a club tournament. It was cold and rainy--perfect British "football" weather--but it certainly dampened our wimpy California spirits. The girls started out tired. We came with only 11 players because of injuries and various scheduling conflicts, so as the day wore on they just got more tired.

Despite playing "flat," the girls won their first game, tied their second game, and won the third game. Would we go on to the second Sunday game and play for the championship? Nope. We had the same record as the team we tied, but they had one more goal than we had, so they beat us by one tournament point.

"What a shame," we all said sarcastically, gleefully packing up our camp chairs and dashing to the parking lot as the sky threatened another shower. The girls, the parents, even the coaches had no regret. If you're going to lose a tournament, it's nice to lose by not losing. And no one cared to play another game in the cold rain.

We headed home for (finally!) a restful Sunday afternoon and evening. No more tournaments till April 28. Everyone gets a much-needed and much-deserved rest.

Of course, the team will still practice twice a week...