Brother and Sisters

A&N played each other’s team this weekend, and it worked out beautifully because it ended in a tie. There are few sets of siblings that play on both teams, including A&N, so they were eager to play. There was an opportunity so we seized the moment, as the saying goes.

Now this partly came about because I was talking to one of the parents who is prone to tactlessness (this is putting it lightly) and is always crossing the line of offensiveness. “Tactless Teddy” (not his real name) said the girls (A’s team, not to mention said person’s daughter’s team) would crush the boys (N’s team, both boys and girls, but for the sake of distinction, I’ll call them boys), and that it wouldn’t even be close. Now granted, I have kids on both teams, but when you put it like that, it naturally makes me defensive.

Of course, I bit. I tried to reason that the boys weren’t that bad. Sure, they were younger, but they played the girls in the beginning of the season and beat them. The girls had improved, no doubt, but so had the boys. This served to egg said person on, and at some point, I figured this game was going to have to happen. That time was this past weekend.

We had a cancellation and a sheet of ice opened up. I tried to find a replacement game with no luck, and it just so happened that the squirts were playing beforehand. I asked around and it worked out perfectly - the boys and girls were going to play. The boys had a game right before, so they were going to be a little tired, but also pumped up. The girls would be fresh. There were multiple sets of siblings involved, so it was going to be fun.

Since I have kids on both sides, and coach both teams, I felt like I couldn’t take sides, so I opted out of coaching either bench and worked the scoring booth. It’s a little complicated and people are terrified of using the thing because the whole world is watching while the clock ticks, no pun intended. I had done it before years ago, but needed a refresher. This also took me out of any biased situation.

The game was a lot of fun, both sides played great, and counter to what Tactless Teddy said, it wasn’t uneven. They tied, though it warrants mentioning that the girls are 11-12, while the boys are 9-10. I got a bird’s eye view from the scoring booth, and it was nice not having to be a coach because it makes it hard to watch and enjoy the game, there’s way too much responsibility.

Tactless Teddy had nothing to say afterward, though a rescinding of previous comments was in order, but that’s never going to happen. I’m just happy it worked out and the kids had fun. It was nice they tied so no siblings felt too disappointed, though I’m guessing the girls really thought they’d dominate. Give the boys credit, they fought hard.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Tim Lofft for the pic.