Saturday Soccer

Because I am both a native Californian and someone who survived the brutal winter in Iowa last year, I think I can get away with poking some fun at Californians when it comes to weather and soccer. Randy has been a soccer official at all levels from the little tykes in recreational leagues through the college level ever since Emily was in first grade (she’s now 21). The rule in Iowa is “we play in the rain, unless there is thunder and lightning.”

Randy has a rain shirt to wear under his official’s uniform and always carries an extra pair of socks, expecting to get soaked, so he can put on dry socks between games. I have used a sharp knife to scrape mud out of the grooves of three pairs of soccer shoes (since Ian and Emily both played) for as many years as I can remember. The rule was: strip in the laundry room after an especially mud-wallowing game. In Emily’s opinion, there was nothing more fun than playing in the mud. In fact, I can remember one miserable fall soccer game in Waverly, Iowa. I sat in my chair on the sidelines wrapped in a heavy blanket, covered by a rain poncho and holding a stadium umbrella, as the rain poured off the sides of the umbrella like a waterfall. There was no thunder or lightning, so the game was “on.” We all had to go the nearby McDonald’s afterwards to thaw out with hot chocolate.

As of Thursday night, we are having our first rain here in California since we moved here in July – no wind, no thunderstorm activity – just gentle rain. Randy received an email this morning that all soccer fields in Dublin are closed due to rain. Really? Wow! If that were the standard in Iowa, they would seldom be able to play. Think of all the great mud these poor California kids are missing out on.