A Moment in Soccer - Selection #7

One Way Rivals

Our club had this rivalry. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a rivalry, but they would. To us, they were just an opponent we used to wallop. This is often the case. The team getting beat calls it a rivalry, the other team says, “Ehh, I guess we play them a lot but rivalry, not really. At least we don’t see it that way.” It’s about respect, calling it a rivalry means you’re respected as a formidable opponent. I guess I’ve been on both sides of this equation.

The opposing coach hated us. He hated us professionally and then decided to hate us personally – reminds me of politics. To make matters worse many of our first teams were filled with their former second team players and then we’d beat them. Imagine the loathing their coach felt as we’d do some celebratory high fiving with his former players after another win.

We didn’t hate him. As I intimated, he didn’t really matter to us, kind of like how the Packers feel about the Detroit Lions. We tried to make nice with him, he’d begrudgingly converse but I was always on the lookout for a shiv.

One game sums up the relationship. Pete, our Coaching Director, yells to his players, “Hey, get in front of your player on the goal kick.”

Their coach perks up, “Girls, stay in front of your player on the goal kick.”

Pete yells again, “Meg get goal’s side on your player.”

The coach responds, “Don’t let them get in front of you girls.”

The scene on the field was comical, 12-year-old-girls uncomfortably jostling for position and peeking toward the benches for a solution.

Finally, Pete, with a wide smile on his face, yells, “Hey, I’ll tell you what. Girls we’ll get in front of them, then they’ll get in front of us and we’ll all keep doing it until we all end up in the parking lot.” He looked at the opposing coach and burst out laughing – hoping for a shared moment of levity. The coach neither spoke nor smiled, it’s not what you do during a big rivalry.