Sand Soccer

I spent this weekend at a sand soccer tournament in Virginia Beach. http://sandsoccer.com/  We've been going to this tournament for four years.  It is a great group of kids that all get along, and the parents are great too.  I like spending time with all of them.  We've been doing travel soccer together for many years.  Our kids go to different schools, and they aren't always on the same team during the regular season, but we all get together once a year and do this tournament.

 

One of the dads coaches, and I do the admin stuff (sending in  the paperwork, collecting fees, registering the team).  After four years, I know the drill, and it isn't hard.  Most of the families stay in the beach hotels, but we stay at my parents' house to save money.  This year my niece and nephew were also in the tournament, but we didn't see their games because of game time conflicts.

The only bad part about the day yesterday was the attitude of some of the parents of the kids on the second team we played.  Why do adults think it is acceptable to taunt kids on the field?  What is wrong with them?  It is fine to cheer for your team, but do you really need to call someone else's child names?  The behavior of the parents was shameful.  And when the parents act bad, it is easy to understand why their kids mouth off at the ref and other players.  Their coach got a red card today because of his mouth, and got thrown off the field.  Unbelievable!  This is U15 sand soccer, not the World Cup!

The weather was beautiful.  It got up to 90 during the day, but we stayed in the shade and drank a lot of water and gatorade. The kids played in the water between games, walked up and down the boardwalk, and ate junk at the food stands.  The grown ups had drinks on a hotel patio before dinner.  Since our kids travelled in a pack and all had cell phones, we were able to let them wander a little on the beach.  Last night they practiced flirting with some middle school girls.  One of the other moms and I chaperoned from a bench several yards away.  I'm going to miss sand soccer when my son outgrows it!