Poor Sophie

You gotta love my girlfriend Sophie! We’ve been friends for ages – ever since I realized that her elder daughter wasn’t as good a player as mine and wasn’t a threat to her spot in their club team starting line up. Sophie and I have traveled with the girls to tournaments all over the mid-west and I really don’t mind driving her everywhere because it’s nice to help out people who don’t have as much money, isn’t it? Our eldest daughters get on so well together and my girl says that these days she hardly notices all those extra pounds that her BFF is carrying.

I’m sure Sophie wouldn’t mind me telling you that when we first met she was quite a mild mannered person but I’m pleased to say that I’ve managed to get her to come out of her shell and taught her the art of standing up for herself and her girls! I’m such a good influence.

She sends her girls to the local public high school which is OK I suppose if you want your kids to learn to deal with the lower social orders. The soccer program over there doesn’t have the benefits of being able to recruit the way our school does but I suppose the huge number of girls that tryout give the “coach” (that’s really what they call him!! How quaint is that!?) a lot to choose from.

Right now they have a policy of not cutting any seniors, although we hear the coach wants to drop that rule. I’ve told Sophie that she can’t let that happen! No way, baby! Her eldest daughter spent all that time on the JV roster and then parked her big wide ass on the bench for most of her junior year so this is her time! She deserves it! Sophie thought it might be better just to let the cards fall however they will, but I’m glad she saw sense when I drafted that letter to the AD and had her sign it.

They also have a ‘no freshmen on Varsity’ policy over there and the coach wants to change that too. I guess that didn’t matter to Sophie when her eldest was a freshman because, let’s be honest, unlike my daughter her girl was never going to be on varsity as a freshie, was she? But if they change the policy now and bring freshmen into varsity then that could be even more pressure on her eldest girl’s roster spot, couldn’t it?

The real trouble is that their coach has his eye on a freshman who is an outstanding prospect. This girl is an MRL club player and captains the regional ODP team in her age group. Supposedly the national team is looking at her and, although it pains me to say it, she is a natural. It just so happens that this stud player is Sophie’s younger daughter.

So now she’s on the horns of a dilemma right? I’ve told her for years that she has to stand up for what is best for her girls the way I do even if it’s not the best thing for the program. Isn’t that what being an active parent like me is all about? But now she has to decide whether to oppose the change to the freshman rule to keep her oldest kid in the program, or support the change to let her youngest have the chance to be a four-year starter. Basically she has to choose between her girls. I guess that’s Sophie’s choice.