Fireflies Snuffed

Well, after FIVE seasons, the fire has gone out of the Fireflies. (making us the Flies?)

It turns out that five seasons, or age 7, whichever comes first, is precisely the point when things go from fun to... something more serious than braiding each other's hair on the sideline. The separation between the girls that are on the team because their parents signed em up, and the girls that want to play becomes pretty evident.

So, around mid-season Naomi and I had a talk: do we want to take it seriously and try to get better at every practice, or hang up her shin guards and move on to something else. Regardless of which way we were leaning week-to-week, we decided to finish the season strong. And to her credit, Naomi made a noticeable effort to up her game the rest of the way.

All that effort took its toll though. By the time the early registration date for the fall season came around, she'd decided: no more soccer. And here's the unexpected part: most of the other girls and their parents had decided the same thing! In the end, we had one player that wanted to continue on the Fireflies, one that was moving to an academy (higher level) team, and five that were moving on to gymnastics, karate, piano, and who knows what else.

It may not sound like alot, but five seasons of soccer really is. Jenny remembers playing 1 or 2 seasons, and I remember playing 3. So, we're pretty happy that Naomi managed to stay with it for so long. In fact, she is one of only 3 players (and I am the only coach) to remain on the team from the first season to the last.

Go Go Fireflies!

Going, going, gone.