A very hot and tiring weekend...

How a week can change the weather. Last weekend I supported my warrior girl in back to back day long football tournaments in the searing and humid heat. It was tough going watching, let alone playing! Saturday went well with Anna and the boys credibly gaining a win and a draw in a tough group full of great teams. She made some incredible saves and managed to legally take out a lad twice the size of her. A very brave run out of her area to cut off a member of the opposition! My heart was in my mouth a bit!  Pure joy to watch. Although they did not progress to the second round, they played some good stuff. Sunday was a different story and dealt some real opportunity for some life lessons for the kids. A significant change of rules that they collectively struggled to grasp and the worlds worst referee meant things did not initially go well. I tried to counsel Anna and the team not to focus on what they thought were unjust decisions, which meant a real loss of confidence and concentration. Anna and the boys calmed down and grew into each game as it got hotter and hotter, finishing brightly and starting to play some good football in the end, with spirits raised. It was very easy for them to have a moan about the ref, not so easy to put it aside and show maturity in focusing on something else. She did well, as did her team mates in turning the afternoon around. I truly loved spending the weekend with her x