Girl Power Shows Their Mettle.

     Yesterday's game was a real test for the girls and it demonstrated clearly how they are so different in temperament from other teams.  Obviously our girls are at this point somewhat accustomed to winning.  It was also obvious yesterday that the team we faced is probably accustomed to success too.  It became apparent early on that the game was going to be a close one and the contrast in the reactions of the teams to that situation was very revealing.  Simply put, the BSS team reacted by getting progressively rougher as the game went on, with a couple of their players openly showing their frustrations with some crude, graceless behavior.  Meanwhile the Girl Power squad reacted by simply pressing forward as they always do, sticking to their style of play.  They absorbed the pressure without backing down.  They dribbled into the other team over and over knowing full well by the end of the game that they weren't facing a defense so much as a gauntlet of elbows and stiff-arms.  Yet they kept going and even raised their own level of intensity to match their opponent without lowering themselves to playing in the same angry style as the BSS team.
     Unfortunately we'll have games like this where we face teams with young rage-a-holics in training on their side, big players with infantile attitudes who lash out physically when the game isn't going their way; the type of player who wants to turn the beautiful game into a hockey game.  I hate hockey. (I could rant about that sport for a while but I'll spare you.)
     A phrase I've used before when talking to some of my older players, and even some of my teammates on my adult teams, is that you have to take the game you get.  You don't get to pick your opponent in advance or write a script for the game.  I want my players to be more in love with the game than they are with winning so that for the love of the game they'll take whatever opponent they get in whatever weather on whatever field with whatever lazy referee that we're stuck with on that day.  Girl Power is the exemplar of this attitude.  Last fall when they were getting beat a lot they nonetheless played every minute with the same enthusiasm.  This spring with the situation reversed they still play with the same enthusiasm and joy for the game and they've learned how to be somewhat casual about the way they dominate games, staying focused on how they are performing themselves without developing any bad habits either in terms of their play or their attitudes.  They are graceful under all conditions and that is something to be very proud of.
    In terms of game highlights I have to confess that I was so caught up in keeping an eye on all the pointless off-the-ball fouls being committed by the BSS team that I wasn't taking notes as I usually do.  I know that Abby put in the first one, and I can't forget the beautiful pass and shot combination that Abby and Hailey H. put together for the final goal.  Send me a note if you know who had the other two.  In any case, it was fantastic to see them come back from two goals down to tie it up.  That showed some amazing heart.  And they played, as always, with a beautiful combination of skill and determination.