So It Begins Again

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." -- Anonymous.

I used to do, but now I teach. Soccer, that is. I still play soccer occasionally but my involvement now mostly amounts to coaching a girls under-13 competitive club soccer team ("comp soccer" in soccer-mom lingo). In addition to this I am also an assistant soccer coach at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City.

It's a very rewarding pastime--I call it a pastime because I do it in addition to my career as a software engineer--but it takes a lot of time. There are two playing seasons per year that each run about two months long but many comp teams practice and travel to regional and national tournaments year-round. I am not as immersed as that but my team starts practice 2-3 months before the season, making it a 4-5 month involvement twice a year. The spring season is still a ways away--April--but we are starting to prepare this week with weekly indoor practices through the months of January and February. In March we will move practices outdoors and increase the number of sessions to three per week.

The last fall season ended in October and I always impose a two month time-off period for my players and myself in November and December. I spent that time cooking, building biycles, getting back in touch with old friends and getting to know Holly better. I enjoyed my time off and now I'm ready to jump back into the world of soccer moms in minivans, screaming parents and angry coaches. FUN!