Sunday afternoons are made for soccer – hours and hours of glorious sunshine. It felt like summer again today. My umbrella and cherry snowcone helped me cool off a little, but I was still sweating on the sidelines watching TG and the Cosmos whoop up on the other team (6-1…TG scored one and almost scored two others.)  

     I love watching those girls play. They are so tough! I love that they are out there on a Sunday afternoon, working together, pushing themselves like that. 

    We didn't have soccer when I was in high school – leagues were just starting to form for little kids about the time I graduated – but I wish we did. I wasn't into playing volleyball or basketball, but I think I would have liked soccer. A couple of years ago I practiced with TG's team and did something horrible to a muscle or nerve in my leg that took months to recover from…but I did it right at the beginning of practice – my first kick defending the goal -  and just kept playing anyway because I had SO gotten into the game.

    Hmmm…maybe it's a good thing we didn't have soccer when I was in high school…

    TG has been playing for twelve years now…four years on the Cosmos with Coach David.  These weekend sideline sessions will be ending for me in a few months. No more driving for an hour or two, sitting and sweating (or freezing) on the sidelines for a couple of hours, screaming "Go Cosmos!" and biting my fingernails and growling at the refs for one-sided calls.

     I'm going to miss it…

    The evolution of a soccer player… TG and best bud Tara around age 5 and then TG, in red, fighting for the ball at her game in Lampasas (I love that field…surrounded by old oak trees…LOTS of shade, unlike today's game.)

Tara and Kendall 1st year soccer 1996

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