Everyone thawed out yet? It was cold, cold, cold Saturday. Did anyone else notice the pattern? It snowed awhile, then the sun came out, then the wind picked up, then it got overcast, then it snowed, the sun came out, the wind picked up, it got overcast, etc. When I got to the fields Saturday it was snowing, but not that cold. I was greeted by Ray Stratton from Region 128 who was there for his U14B game at 9:00 am. Ray is like a lot of us, he wear several hats. He is the Area 5B Coach Administrator, Interregional Scheduler, U19 coach, U14 coach and holds positions on the Region 128 board. After parking my truck in the same spot it got keyed last week, I went over to talk to Ray. It started snowing harder, so I made my way up to the pavilion to set up shop. The snow let up and the sun came out, so I figured the day would be a good one. As it turned out it was, yes we had some teams cancel games, but a lot of teams showed up and played.& nbsp; It was also kind of neat to see some of the parents in there cars, with their coats on, motor running, while their kid were running around in shorts and a jersey.
The concession stand was doing a great business selling hot coco, coffee and hot dogs. Last week we did not do as well. Our cut was $161.50 after taking out for the referees and such. We made enough to pay the security officer with some left over. Gail figured because it was cold last week, a lot of folk went home and most of the grand parents stayed home. We have it figured out that each U6 player brings 3 cars. Parents and both sets of grand parents. There was plenty of parking on Saturday, most of the U6 teams took the day off.
All but 1 U10 game had referees on Saturday, so even with some gone we were able to cover the games. We did have a seasoned veteran show up to do a U14 girls game. David Holt, the Area 5B Referee Administrator was AR on the 1:00 U14 girls game. I talked to him at the half time and he said it was a really good game, lots of good clean play. Tyina Barnes U14 girls team was playing a team from Region 275.
The only bad thing that happened was a U10 goal-keeper got kicked in the face. A parent said she would be OK, in fact she played the last quarter of her game. I am glad the girl is going to be OK. Our referees do their best to protect the keepers.
I had some teams turn in there money and rosters for the Area 5B games. Right now I have 1 U10 girls team, 2 U12 boys teams, 4 U12 girls teams, 1 U14 boys and 1 U14 girls team going. I will get with the Area 5B Tournament Director this week pass it on to him. If any other teams want to go they need to get their information and money to me ASAP.
Something that you will notice next week is that we are partnering with a local company, SP Recycling Corporation, to recycle plastic bottles. There will be some special containers placed around the field and a big container to empty the plastic bottles in. Cat Seagle is heading up the project. Check our web-site for more information. I think it is great we are doing this.
We even had a pick up game later on. One of our U14 teams had a scrimmage with a couple of combined U12 teams. I hate to say it but it was a 2 - 2 tie. It was fun to watch.
Back to the weather for a minute. At one point during the day it was snowing down on field 4 (and the lower part of field 3), overcast but no snow at the pavilion and sunny on fields 1 and 6. Only in East Tennessee.
Over all it was a good day. The kids played, had fun, and parents froze. It was almost like a silent Saturday. All the parents were quiet. There was one parent on a U14 team that was kind of loud. We heard him up at the pavilion. He is just one of these parents that has a loud voice. I remember him from U10 and U12 when his daughter played. Back in U10 I had to break the news to him that he could not put his daughters name on the back of her jersey. He had taken great pains to iron on the name on the blue side and the white side of the jersey he had bought the week before. He peeled off the letters before the game.
I don't know if any of the other regions played, I am glad we did. It was fun, but very cold. I will speak to the field manager about turning the heat back on, even if it is spring.
See you next week on the fields
--
George
RC R337