Where we have been training with a grassroots football team who sometimes advertised themselves as an academy, but quite frankly they are just a startup grassroots team. However, they also advertise themselves sometimes as an elite grassroots football team, and we have been training with them for three months. Last night around six o’clock, we received a text message asking if we would like to join the team as trialists.
Unfortunately, this game was on the very same day as the other team we’ve been applying to on Sundays. But me, the man of the house, decided that the boy should give the elite grassroots team trial a go, so we canceled with an excuse to our original team, saying that the boy was not feeling well.
The imagination was as follows:
We arrive on the pitch. The coaches, two of them, are already there, having prepared the goals and waiting for the footballers to arrive. Upon arrival, everybody is greeted. The players who don’t have their team’s football jerseys receive a football jersey from the club, and they start warming up. One coach is doing all the necessary paperwork with the opinions coach, and the other coach is teaching and warming up the team.
As soon as the other coach finishes his paperwork, he works with the goalkeeper to warm him up. Upon everybody being nicely warmed up, they take some liquids to hydrate and are nicely warmed up and ready for the game. Five minutes before the game starts, both coaches are giving practical tips for the players and putting every player in the position where they belong.
Throughout the game, the coaches are orchestrating the game in a nice but very firm manner, putting every player into shape and constantly telling the players where to stand and what to do in their position. Always, the elite grassroots team plays to win. The game ends 5-2, and the man of the match is my boy George, who scored four goals. He was played in midfield, then as a striker, and towards the end, he was played as a defender to make sure we kept the score high. Of course, everybody knows the best players should be defense-orientated always.
Upon winning the game, the man of the match is crowned—which is my boy George! Everybody applauds him, and both coaches tell everyone how great he was. Everybody takes a group picture with the team, and then every parent stands with their child, and we take another picture. Parents talk to each other throughout, swapping phone numbers because our children play in the same club, and maybe we’ll invite each other for a Sunday roast or a quick barbecue party, especially since the sun was shining all day long.
Upon this, some parents maybe go for a coffee nearby the park, some go to each other’s houses, and some head home, but everybody greets each other and supports each other.
It was a wonderful and successful day. We made friends, and the community can support each other.