It was soccer championship day at our town park. All day long they had games going on. They had some bouncing and climbing toys for the younger kids, and also an inflatable soccer field where games were actually played (on a smaller scale, of course). Son #2 had his championship game scheduled at 4:30PM, but I took all three kids over there before lunch time to enjoy the festivities. We needed to be home by 1:15ish so the older two could get ready for deck hockey at 2:00.
We had heard that the currently registered league players could get a free hot dog, so that's what the older two had for lunch. Son #3 and I were getting a bit peckish too, so I bought a couple of dogs and some water bottles at the snack bar. The fairly new playground sprinklers were turned on, to try to combat the temps in the high eighties plus thick humidity. The kids had fun in there.
Hockey (played outdoors on a wooden deck) was a sweltering experience, so lots more water was consumed there too. Back to the soccer park by 4PM, excited that our team would be playing on the main field which is not grass but turf...tres cool. We found that the girls' championship game being played at the time was entering the fourth quarter with no score for either side. I took a prime spot on the bleachers with some of "our" parents, and the older two boys went onto the turf, on the sidelines, with the team. My eight year old headed straight for the sprinklers again.
Sure enough, the game went into overtime (championship games cannot end in a tie, of course!). Two five minute OT periods later, still no score. Five players from each side were chosen for a shootout. A few missed kicks and a few blocked shots later, we still had a tie after the shootout finished. So then we went round by round, one player from each team taking a shot until the tie was broken. After a few pairs of shooters, the green team emerged victorious over the blue team. It was now almost 5:30, an hour late for our game to begin.
A short while later, Son #3 bounds over to the bleachers to announce that he's hungry. Can't really blame him since we ought to have been home making dinner by that time. The snack bar had chicken tenders, which was not as unhealthy as some of the other alternatives. A short while after that, he was hungry again and so was Son #1. At 6:30 I gave in and went back to the snack bar. They'd closed the grill except for the pile of hot dogs that they were making for the teams on the field to eat after the game...so I got the last two unclaimed dogs. One went to the little guy, and I split the other one with the oldest child (since by then I was feeling a pit in my belly).
Unfortunately, our team was being destroyed pretty much from the beginning. First quarter ended 4-0 and shortly into the second quarter it was 5-0. The opposing coach, who has coached both my older boys before, is known to be a very classy guy, and apparently instructed his squad to hold back on the offense (in the absence of an official mercy rule). Final score 5-0.
By the time it was all over, the time was 7PM. Medals were distributed to both teams, and several rounds of applause were given for impressive efforts. The big tray of hot dogs was brought out, and all the team members partook. The head of the soccer league noticed that many of the parents had brought the players' siblings, so he announced that siblings could polish off the rest of the franks. That makes three for my eight year old for the day...but who's counting?
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