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 Our team, Spirit of California , won an Olympic gold
medal in Sacramento yesterday!
YAY!!!
By Berta
We had only 11.5 players as one woman went home
Saturday morning before the
tournament after receiving
tragic news of her 35 year old
son passing away in Laos .
After a tearful breakfast, we
all fought very hard playing
three 50 minute games in 95
degree temps with NO SUBS! Only
our coach, Jan, with a hurt knee
(the .5 player) hobbled on to
give a few players breathers for
a minute or two. It was funny;
every time she entered the
field, we scored a goal! There
were 9 teams as one team dropped
out so 2 players: Carolyn and
Cherly, whose soccer skills
were…well, no one else would
pick them up, so we brought them
on board. They were sweet gals,
understanding, and knew they
were there to support. We had 3
players over 60, 6 players over
55, and I was the baby on the
team so we had no “gifts”,
meaning – no players under age.
Most of the other teams had one
or two gifts AND 3-4 subs on the
sidelines, and they were still
calling themselves off for a
break because of the heat. Our
captain, Louise, is a solid
midfielder that we had to
sacrifice and put in as
goalkeeper since our options
were thin. After some of us
traded time there, it was
determined that she was the
better candidate doing an
awesome job diving on the ground
and snagging balls high out of
the air.
We played 3 games the first day
winning 5-0, 2-0 and 1-1 putting
us in first place. The second
day, we played a Hawaiian team
in the semis and won 2-0. In the
Championship match, we played a
great tough 60 minute game
against SAC’s Still Kick’n, and
tied 0-0. I was second kicker in
the shoot-out and scored (must
have been the golden shoelaces I
was wearing-a gift from the
RHA’s) along with 3 other
teammates to win.
Amazing women beating amazing
odds! They’re inspirational to
me.
calsite
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