Cardinal is over!

Well the Cardinals were placed together for the Under Ten season at the local club.

Of course it will be an even competition..and remember we want everyone to have FUN!

Well I know it's not all about winning, but it's not all about losing either, is it?

And The Cardinals lost every game, not just 1-0 or 2-1 but 9-0, 5-0 and 6-1.

Have you ever played in a team like that?

14-0, 12-0 17-0. When I was 12 that was my team. Some team!

The Cardinals never did that bad, but they never played as long as my team.

They tried, The coach's tried. They changed the goalie, the defence, the tactics, the pre-match talk, the half-time talk, sometimes even the Coach.

They were winning once, but then they lost.

Mostly they defended. Mostly they lost.

It's hard to hear the cheers from the other parents, every week and their kid gets to score the best goal ever....against The Cardinals.

There were reports of tears at half-time, brotherly jibes from the winning brothers and maybe even sisters. There were tears after the game. And there was anger.

Some won't be back. They placed these boys in a group, any old group. "We thought it would work."

But you can't change them. Not after two weeks they are a team. And they are getting slaughtered. Demoralised.

Oh you can't change a team, not after two weeks with 16 weeks to go.

And so to the last game. As I left I could see the Cardinals at it again. It was wet, not just a shower, but absolutely chucking it down.

"This time they'll get wet and they'll lose," I thought as I left the oval.

I wasn't staying to watch. Ah well at least the season's over.

The phone rang.

It was the Dad. The Dad of a Cardinal. We talked about the kids games every week.

"Well that's a relief, the seasons over," I said.

"They won, they won. 3-1 Can you believe it? they won. In the last game, they won. Oh the others had some players out but they won."

"God!, They won."