Today Emma had her first soccer game of the Spring season. We had to get up bright and early to arrive in Salt Lake for her 8:30 am game. She was stoked.
As the game progressed, it became increasingly obvious that the calls were all going against us. Not just a few, but ALL THE CALLS. The other team did not have anything called on them and it was becoming rather frustrating. Now don't get me wrong. I don't mind having penalties as long as things are fair and the ref is calling it both ways. However, it was awful. Even the line judge was saying it was not right and that we were being robbed. It was hard to watch.
However, the girls just continued to play through it and score goals. Near the middle of the last half, Emma had the ball and was dribbling down the field towards the goal. Just as she was about to shoot, a defender ran into her, causing both girls to go crashing to the ground. The ref blew his whistle and called a foul on Emma.
I think about this time Emma was sick of playing nice. Sadly, she was not a good sport and said "Come on, Ref". Well, he did not like that too much and stopped the game and called her over and reamed on her in front of everyone there--parents and players. He told her that she needed to go to the sidelines have her coach reprimand her. That is when the mama bear in me came out. I was lit.
Yes, she was wrong for saying that. I get that. There was no excuse. She was in error. However, what I was upset about is the way he handled it. His job was to ref the game, not lecture her at midfield. Why not just throw a yellow card and send her out of the game? Isn't that what would normally happen? After he had finished his scolding, Emma looked at me and I and I yelled to her to just keep her head in the game. She nodded to me and I knew that she was going to be fine.
Finally the game resumed and in typical Emma fashion, she channeled her anger and put on her game face. I knew what was coming. As soon as play resumed, she took the ball from the other team and drilled (and I mean drilled) the ball down the middle of the field straight into the goal for the game winning score. From the beginning of the play to the goal, it was not longer than 30 seconds. It was sweet. I wish I had captured it on film, but in my rage I had forgotten to roll my camera. I would have loved to have seen the look on the ref's face. I am sure he thought he had intimated her and gotten into her head. Guess he doesn't know Emma too well :)
I realize that my feelings may not be entirely Christ-like and for that I apologize. However, I admit that I was rather proud of my daughter today and the way she handled herself. She made a mistake, she took her reprimand with dignity (even if it was extreme) and then came back and won the game. She was wonderful.
Hopefully the next game is not as interesting as the first one was.
(Thanks to Rachel for the awesome team pic above)
