AYSO Fall Season 2005 - The Air Benders - U-8 Division

Our soccer adventures end under the AYSO with heartbreaking results. I knew this would happen somehow; Having a young team, six 6-year-old players and two 7-year-olds competing in the U-8 division was no easy task for me. We found ourselves in a mismatch in at least five of the ten games on our schedule. Having only eight players playing 7x7 for forty minutes, my kids were out of steam halfway down the second half as I've observed on all the games we played. That's when our defenses fall significantly and our opponents exploit our weakness. My kids would slowly pick up from that halfway slump for a "second wind", increasing the pressure on the other team and doubling up on the attack. This "second wind" would never be enough though, as we would run out of time to close the deficit. Deep inside me, I know if we were given more time, we could defeat those teams... I truly believed that.
We were never scoreless on all the games except for one. In that game, we were able to shut the other team down as well for a 0-0 tie. After that particular game, the other coach approached me and told me that our match was, to them, the most exciting one they've ever played! I was a bit delighted by his comment but found it odd that I agreed with him despite a scoreless match. If he hadn't made that comment, I would have felt differently about it. This is when I realized, as I looked at my young players; all sweated up, gulping aggressively all the water in their water bottles, and despite their thirst and tiredness I can see that warm satisfying smile in their faces; that despite the losses this season, the experience was well worth its weight in gold. Soccer is truly a beautiful game.