Limping out the season

Nowhere close to what I was expecting for the rec tournament I did this weekend. The day started off ok, the rain was held in check for Saturday morning and only scattered sprinkles could be felt. Traffic was not bad heading to the matches, but then I did not expect much at 7:15am on a Saturday morning.

Upon arrival, I see that the teams are arriving and I make my way to the field, but I must go on a tangent/rant. Matches were 25 minutes each with 5 minutes in between matches, so each match was expected to be played in 30 minute intervals. It was certainly impossible to keep that going. After the first match ended at 8:37 (already 7 minutes behind schedule), I knew there was no hope in keeping up with the alloted times. In the end, I was 35 minutes behind schedule when I ended my 8th match, and I have to say that I thought I did a good job.

Anyway, upon arriving, the field coordinator states that there is a big interest in getting the matches played but that I was the final say on if the matches would be played. I looked at the fields and saw that there were some minor puddles, but nothing that looked deep and/or problematic, so I said that we would be able to play.

The field was not in the best of shapes to start, and by the end it was a steaming pot of mud. I pity the referee who came after me. As the matches wore on, I could see that footing might be troublesome to maintain.

In the end, the level was not very good, the girls were all U12 and from rec leagues, so the level of play was not fantastic. The field did not allow for much fluid play and in 8 matches, I had a 2-0, 3 1-0 matches and 4 0-0 matches, not exactly brilliant but given the circumstances, understandable.

On a side note, I am now limping thanks to some misstep I took at some moment between the 5th or 6th match that caused me to run around in pain for the last of match 7 and all of match 8. The field probably contributed to the injury. At this point, it does not seem like a torn MCL or anything close, more like sprained. So not having actual reffing responsabilities next weekend is not a bad thing. At this point, I am happy the season is almost over and ready for the holidays to begin in earnest.