AuburnChick's Adventures

We’ve all heard the saying…”Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Well, for the AuburnChick household, ten years flew by quicker than a bag of M&M’s in the Mr.’s hands.

What leads me down this road of reminiscing?

Chicky’s last bid for a State Cup title.

Chicky’s team came in 3rd.  That final game has eluded her once again, but it is okay…a little bittersweet, but o-kay.

Ten years ago, Chicky started playing travel soccer.  She had already played two years in the recreational league before getting invited to try out for the local select team.

Oh the nerves, as we waited, in the rain, for the coach to post the list of those who had made it.

We went out to dinner after, celebrating her accomplishment.

Thus began the journey.

I remember the first summer as incredibly hot and humid.  Chicky’s coach insisted on mid-day practices.  We were miserable.  I can’t believe Chicky stuck it out.

Come fall, we were glad for the coach’s wisdom, because our girls were in better shape than any other team.  We enjoyed watching our eight year olds run circles around what would become our nemesis teams, practicing some of the new skills they had just learned.

Back in the early years, we did not travel far.  Our games rarely took us more than 45 minutes away from home.

As Chicky’s skills improved, the Mr. and I grew more knowledgeable about youth soccer.  He was voted to become the Club’s President, while I served as Team Mom.  However, we moved to north Florida before his reign began, and we started all over again with a new club.

We had scouted out teams and purposefully selected her new one based on its record.  Chicky was a nervous wreck when she tried out.  The team’s practices were as fast as her former team’s best games.

She made the team but had to earn her starting position.

This is when the heavy traveling began.

Our second tournament was in Washington, D.C.  Not only did we buy a new washer and dryer that month, but we also paid for airfare for the entire family.  It was then that I began my part-time job.

Chicky’s team did not win the tournament, but she showed her stuff and earned the spot she wanted.

Rooster had also been playing soccer, so the kids kept us busy with their team schedules.

When you live in north Florida, you have to travel a lot to play good teams, so traveling is what we did.

Chicky changed teams after about three years when the local team broke up.  You’ve just gotta love soccer politics.

Thank goodness for it, though, because Chicky’s new team was a fabulous assortment of players with an amazing coach.  We drove Chicky two and a half hours each way for practices two or three afternoons a week.  She would leave straight from school, and we wouldn’t return until 10:30 or 11pm at night.

Chicky learned the meaning of true dedication.

After Chicky got hurt in 9th grade, she took half a season off.  In the meantime, things changed again, and she joined a new team on the other side of the state.

Practices were held on weekends with games on opposite weekends.  What a crazy life!  After a year and a half, Chicky changed teams, returning to her former team.  However, that’s when she discovered just how competitive she really is, and she returned to her other team…this time for good.

Over the years, we have experienced quite a few things.

We stayed in dumpy motels and really nice hotels.  We’ve seen every kind of breakfast buffet known to man, free and otherwise.

We can tell you every restaurant across north Florida, and the bathrooms in between.

Chicky played in more tournaments than I can count.

My favorite was the trip to San Diego, although most of what I did between games was write papers and study.  It also happens to be the tournament during which I started writing this blog.

I enjoyed the Las Vegas trip we made after San Diego.  I had just finished college and splurged at two fabulous yarn stores I found in town.

My least-favorite games were held in Georgia in the middle of the winter.  One of the parents took a picture of me all wrapped up.  This was the time before Mr. Heater.

Some of my favorite memories will be those of Chicky and her best friend, with whom we carpooled to practices with.  Chicky tends to be a quiet girl until she gets to know a person.  But then look out.  She becomes Ms. Personality.  Her best friend is a true ham in the sense of the word.  Put the two girls together, and there is non-stop laughter.

I found it fitting that we ate dinner with Best Friend and her dad after the game on Saturday.

As I sit here and reflect, I give thanks to God for the friendships we made over the years.  On Saturday, it was a love-fest at the hotel and the soccer fields as we ran into former teammates and their families.  I know that we will continue to keep up with them during the next four years as most of the girls will play soccer in college.

Still, things will be different.

No more getting lost and calling Mr. B. for help navigating.  No more checking into the hotel where the staff truly knew our names because we were there two or three weekends a month.  The early Saturday morning wake-up calls will, for the most part, be a thing of the past (thank goodness).  And all the dinners out…my credit card might yet recover!

I am excited for Chicky as she embarks on the next phase of her soccer career, and I wish our friends the best in the years to come.

I am sure the next ten years will fly by as quickly as the previous ones did!

Filed under: soccer | Tagged: children, soccer | 1 Comment »