Road trips

Granddaughter Allison and her U12 team from Pennsylvania were down in Richmond this weekend for the Jefferson Cup.  They did well: 1-1-1, dropping the first game 4-3 after being down 4-1, winning the second, 4-1, and drawing the final match, 2-2.

Following the results on the tournament website brought back a lot of memories for me as a coach and parent of the road trips to the Jefferson Cup, to the Columbia (Maryland) showcase, to Middletown, NY, to the Potomac Cup, to WAGS and to others.

Memories of arriving at the hotel sometimes late on a Friday after a long drive, of having to get up at an awful hour some mornings for an 8 a.m. game when the grass was wet with dew.  Of killing time between games when it was too far to drive back to the hotel.  Of hanging out with the parents at dinner and after at the hotel.  Of the kids seeming to have a good time whether in the hotel pool, going to a mall or hanging out in the rooms. 

Whenever we went out for dinner we would have separate tables or groups of tables for players and parents.  Often the hotels would let us use one of their meeting rooms as a team hospitality suite where parents could drink another cup of coffee before leaving for the fields or recap the day's games over some adult beverages at night.

There was always soccer talk.  What did we know about the team we played tomorrow?  Was anyone on our team injured?  What did we need to do - and other teams to do - for us to advance?   If we advance who might we play?  Are any teams from our league at the tournament and how are they doing?

There are times I miss those days.