If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?

The bench got blown over by the wind during the game. The little girls toppled backwards and their little legs flipped up in the air. As an American Kid from the Pre-Soccer Era, I still can't get used to the look of shin guards. My Bear is slightly built. Her tiny little frame sits in a big billowy jersey and big soccer shorts. Out of her shorts come long, skinny legs, and then huge shins covered in tie dyed socks which end in shiny red soccer cleats.

The spectators had a tough time with flying playground sand hitting us and wind whipping our hair. (Bill winced when he watched me comb the tangles out of my wind blown hair. I wore it in a braid and it pulled free and tangled nonetheless. I soaked it in conditioner and left in conditioner that is not intended to be left in. My face this morning looked oddly red to me and then I realized that it was a windburn.)

Throw ins against the wind were impossible and you had to keep the ball on the ground to keep any control.

It's been a tough year in recreational soccer. As one of a just a few 5th grade teams, they have lost all of their games so far. Yesterday they won 2-1 and everyone was delighted. Rec soccer is a pretty easy going crowd usually, but winning really does matter even if it doesn't matter a lot.

"It wasn't even a tie," she said.