We spent the weekend in St. Louis, Missouri for our very first out of town Lacrosse Tournament. We left on Thursday evening and drove to Joplin, Missouri, which is just across the Oklahoma/Missouri border. On Friday, we drove from Joplin to St. Louis, and arrived early evening. We
stayed at the Sheraton Westport Chalet. A shopping/restaurant mall surrounded the hotel. This was great because we were able to select from a variety of restaurants at which to eat during our stay. Unfortunately, all of the shops have closed due to the downturn in the economy, but we were able to find a small magazine/newspaper shop to browse through one evening before dinner.
Saturday morning we started bright and early. We grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks and then headed to the Sportport fields for the lacrosse tournament. Frisco Lacrosse set up "camp" next to field 1, as most of our teams played a couple of games on field 1 on Saturday. Right out of the box, we have to play our own Frisco Bears Blue team. We won the game and moved forward. We played a team from Metro Lacrosse out of St. Louis and won the game handily. Because the score was rather run up during that game, we decided that if we played them again, the boys would play positions they don't typically play and play the game with their opposite hand. So, defensive players would play offense, offensive players would play defense, right handed kids would play the whole game left handed, and lots of kids would play with long sticks.
Before our rematch with Metro, we played a select team out of Kansas City, Kansas. It was an extremely exciting game. Our boys went head to head with them and battled for goals. In the end, we came out on top. Their team and parents were stunned; from inception, this team had never lost a game. That is, until they met the Frisco Bears Black team! We faced Metro for the second time in the semi-final round. Our boys played opposite/new positions and played with their opposite hand throughout the game. We won again, without much of a contest, and the boys felt great about not beating this team into the group, and they were happy that Metro scored one goal on them because they heard that they had never scored before. I was proud that our coach taught the boys a great lesson during that game. A lesson about being good sports, a lesson much larger than sports at all, a lesson in humanity and kindness.
We met the select team from Kansas City in the finals, and once again, we walked off the field victorious. The boys were thrilled to have won the St. Louis Gold Cup, and we were all so proud of them. Each player received a gold medal, and Connor received a special honor from Coach Joe and Coach Mark. They honored him with a large bucket of ice water being poured over his head. At first, he stood immobile, but then, he began to move and when he did, he began to swing. He may have been cold for a second when the ice water hit him, but he was boiling with anger now. His temper flaired and he was out to attack Coach Joe. I struggled to grab hold of him and stop him as he lunged into Joe and continued swinging his fists toward him. Joe managed to stay clear, and I finally got my hands on Connor enough to stop him and eventually calm him. Wow! Not quite the reaction you want your son to have.
It took a few moments to settle him and to convince him that Coach Joe and Coach Mark had honored him with the ice water bath. I gave several examples, explained that they had dumped water on their own coach, etc., but it took him a while to calm his temper so that he could listen and understand. In the end, he apologized to Coach Joe and they made peace, and now he knows that they were honoring him and not picking on him. No one has dumped a bucket of water on him again, but if it happens again, I hope that Connor remembers that it is an honor and that he realizes that it is a special tribute him as a player.
Before our rematch with Metro, we played a select team out of Kansas City, Kansas. It was an extremely exciting game. Our boys went head to head with them and battled for goals. In the end, we came out on top. Their team and parents were stunned; from inception, this team had never lost a game. That is, until they met the Frisco Bears Black team! We faced Metro for the second time in the semi-final round. Our boys played opposite/new positions and played with their opposite hand throughout the game. We won again, without much of a contest, and the boys felt great about not beating this team into the group, and they were happy that Metro scored one goal on them because they heard that they had never scored before. I was proud that our coach taught the boys a great lesson during that game. A lesson about being good sports, a lesson much larger than sports at all, a lesson in humanity and kindness.
We met the select team from Kansas City in the finals, and once again, we walked off the field victorious. The boys were thrilled to have won the St. Louis Gold Cup, and we were all so proud of them. Each player received a gold medal, and Connor received a special honor from Coach Joe and Coach Mark. They honored him with a large bucket of ice water being poured over his head. At first, he stood immobile, but then, he began to move and when he did, he began to swing. He may have been cold for a second when the ice water hit him, but he was boiling with anger now. His temper flaired and he was out to attack Coach Joe. I struggled to grab hold of him and stop him as he lunged into Joe and continued swinging his fists toward him. Joe managed to stay clear, and I finally got my hands on Connor enough to stop him and eventually calm him. Wow! Not quite the reaction you want your son to have.
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