[Paslode]

Sometimes nothing more than a fat lip and someone to point them in the right direction.

Once upon there was this hodgepodge group of 5 year old girls that showed up for soccer practice and played games. It was rec soccer, cartwheels and daisy picking, they had fun and did okay.

Then they one cold Saturday morning they met up with some mean Catholic girls with rabid parents. The game was a carnage fest, hair pulling, pinching, fists in guts, tripping and head butting. By half time one girl had a split lip, one had a black eye and the hodgepodge was disarray. By the end of the game long faces and tails between their legs.

Coach sat on the bleachers after the game with head in hands, a parent came by and patted him on the back and said to remember it is only a game. Coach said, it's not the game, they got beat up.

The next practice the coach and the girls discussed the game. 30 minutes of stories of abuse and who did what. Finally Coach asked why didn't you fight back? Why did you let them pick on your friends? Why did you stand and watch it happen?

The answer....because we will get in trouble, we'll get a red card if we fight.

So Coach said, Where a team right? Will I be at practice or game early? Yes they replied. You know I am always here early and you expect me to be here. You in turn expect and rely on your parents to get you here early. That is working together and making something happen, it's team work.

You ladies do a very good job of getting here on time, showing up for games, encouraging each other and not being critical of mistakes. But if you want to be a team you must work together and a big part of that is you take care of each other. You never, and I mean never let anyone pick on your teammates. It is never to happen again. If you see it happen, red card or not you make them pay. You keep at them until they think twice about messing with you.

Do I want you to play dirty , the answer is no. If I catch you playing dirty I'll pull you from the game. But I also don't expect you to accept being beat on.

If the Ref has a problem with it, you tell him to come see me.


It became quite a Team. League Champions twice, 5 varsity letters, 2 Division 1 Scholarships, the girls stay in contact with each other and the parents still talk about the experience.

And it probably would not have happened without the motivation of a split lip. They needed a spark to set the fire, and once the fire was started it consumed young and old alike.