What's in a Name?

I decided that I am not busy enough (don't pay attention to the sarcasm dripping off those words) so I picked up another team to coach. I was already helping coach two high school-aged girls teams, and just added a U8 team. This is a young team, just girls, and it's 5 v 5 without goal keepers. Simple stuff right? ( :

We had our first game on Saturday and I only had four girls show up. The other coach was gracious enough to play us 4 v 4 so it was somewhat even, although he had about four subs. Before the game started we warmed up a bit and then we were talking about some important things like how we were going to set up on the field and what our team name should be. When I asked the girls what they wanted our team name to be, one said that she wanted our name to be 'the pink cupcakes.' I stifled a laugh and asked if there were any other suggestions for our team name. Another girl said she wanted our name to be 'the pink flames.' (I was really grateful that someone had another suggestion-cupcakes don't necessarily strike fear into their opponents hearts.) I said that we would take a vote. Out of the four girls, two raised their hands for 'the pink cupcakes' and THREE raised their hands for 'the pink flames.' I told the girl that voted twice that she could only vote once. Then I asked her which one she wanted the most. She sat there and literally tapped her chin as she looked from one girl to the next, trying to figure out which person she liked more. I finally just said that we were going to be 'the pink flames' that day, and maybe we could change our name for the next game.

Since there were only four girls, they stayed in the whole time. Only one of them brought water. The three other girls were drooling between each quarter as the one girl drank her water. She finally shared a bit, except that one girl said her mom wouldn't want her to share, so she didn't have any.

Two of the girls had a really good head about the game and were successful in both offense and defense. One of the girls just kept asking if we had to keep running and how much longer until she could go home. The last little girl would run away from the ball (even if it was just sitting there) and actually run all the way around 'the pack' of girls surrounding the ball if it started moving her way. A few times she even screamed as someone started running in her direction.

Good times. Let's just say that it was entertaining to watch and try to herd my little team! I can't wait for our second game tomorrow night!