ODP Day 3- Last game and going home
The game schedule for ODP was subject to change. Originally, Alyssa's last game of the day (and of the tournament) on Thursday was scheduled to be at 2:00 pm. Then something miraculous occurred and Alyssa's game was moved to 10:00 am. That meant that instead of leaving for home after 3:00 pm (when the 2:00 pm game would have ended) which would be after 4:00 pm Eastern time which would have meant getting home after 10:00 pm, we arrived home by about 6:20 pm. YES! We drove with Annabelle and her mom Nikki to St. Louis. Annabelle's last game on Thursday wasn't until 2:00 pm. So we would have had to wait for Annabelle's game to end to leave except that Annabelle's dad drove up on Wednesday to watch her play which meant that Annabelle and Nicki had a ride home.
Alyssa's coach thought that our Thursday opponent was our toughest. Her team played Kansas Yellow. Alyssa's team won 4-1. I didn't think that our opponent was all that tough, but I'll defer to her coach who played division I soccer and who's been a soccer coach since college. I do think that Alyssa's team played really well and maybe for that reason I didn't perceive the other team as being super strong. Alyssa played defense the entire time she was in the game. It was cool to see how the girls become more comfortable around each other over the course of the four games that they played together. In this game, after each goal was scored, the girls would run over to each other and high five each other. In the first game on Tuesday when the girls didn't know each other, they were much more taciturn and did not run up to each other after goals were scored.
After her team's victory, the girls posed for a team picture and we heard one more post game talk by her coach (whom we both really liked). We went to the car and I was about ready to hit "home" on my phone's navigation when I realized that I didn't have my phone. A frenzied 10 minute search revealed it to be in Alyssa's soccer bag and then we were on our way.
The ride home was uneventful; always a good thing in my book. We drove for about five hours before stopping. A new record for Alyssa, I think :). Alyssa asked me around Terre Haute, IN when we'd stop to get something to eat. I told her we could stop anytime/ anywhere, except not in Terre Haute because the interstate was down to one lane and I wanted to get out of the construction zone. I told Alyssa we'd probably find another restaurant that sounded good to her (only CFA and KFC sounded good to her) in about 20 minutes. Well, on the complete other side of Indiana we finally found a KFC.
Overall, the ODP experience was a positive one. Alyssa loved being on a winning team. Playing with teammates and a coach she didn't know (at first) put Alyssa outside of her comfort zone but was ultimately a good thing. Her CUP soccer team will be traveling a lot for tournaments next year and I'm not sure we'll be willing/ up to traveling for ODP. I guess it depends on where it is next year and what her schedule looks like (of course one has to make an ODP team but she will be on the older end if ODP combines the youngest two years like they did this year. I'm confident that if she made it this year being on the younger end she'd make it for sure next year being on the older end). I enjoyed spending one on one time with Alyssa and loved watching her play soccer.
Getting ready for game four to start
Defending the corner...
After a teammate's goal...
ugh, the blur
After the game- soccer players of the field
Bless Greensburg, IN for having a KFC
$5.00 Fill Up
Home sweet almost home...
Alyssa's coach thought that our Thursday opponent was our toughest. Her team played Kansas Yellow. Alyssa's team won 4-1. I didn't think that our opponent was all that tough, but I'll defer to her coach who played division I soccer and who's been a soccer coach since college. I do think that Alyssa's team played really well and maybe for that reason I didn't perceive the other team as being super strong. Alyssa played defense the entire time she was in the game. It was cool to see how the girls become more comfortable around each other over the course of the four games that they played together. In this game, after each goal was scored, the girls would run over to each other and high five each other. In the first game on Tuesday when the girls didn't know each other, they were much more taciturn and did not run up to each other after goals were scored.
After her team's victory, the girls posed for a team picture and we heard one more post game talk by her coach (whom we both really liked). We went to the car and I was about ready to hit "home" on my phone's navigation when I realized that I didn't have my phone. A frenzied 10 minute search revealed it to be in Alyssa's soccer bag and then we were on our way.
The ride home was uneventful; always a good thing in my book. We drove for about five hours before stopping. A new record for Alyssa, I think :). Alyssa asked me around Terre Haute, IN when we'd stop to get something to eat. I told her we could stop anytime/ anywhere, except not in Terre Haute because the interstate was down to one lane and I wanted to get out of the construction zone. I told Alyssa we'd probably find another restaurant that sounded good to her (only CFA and KFC sounded good to her) in about 20 minutes. Well, on the complete other side of Indiana we finally found a KFC.
Overall, the ODP experience was a positive one. Alyssa loved being on a winning team. Playing with teammates and a coach she didn't know (at first) put Alyssa outside of her comfort zone but was ultimately a good thing. Her CUP soccer team will be traveling a lot for tournaments next year and I'm not sure we'll be willing/ up to traveling for ODP. I guess it depends on where it is next year and what her schedule looks like (of course one has to make an ODP team but she will be on the older end if ODP combines the youngest two years like they did this year. I'm confident that if she made it this year being on the younger end she'd make it for sure next year being on the older end). I enjoyed spending one on one time with Alyssa and loved watching her play soccer.
Getting ready for game four to start
Defending the corner...
After a teammate's goal...
ugh, the blur
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