Before yesterday's game in the Golden Gate Invitational Tournament, I knew my daughter wasn't feeling very good, but I had no idea what was wrong.
By the end of the first game, it was apparent she was sick or hurt. She said her tailbone hurt (she calls it her 'butt bone'), which is not the kind of injury I've ever had to deal with before.
She couldn't sit down properly and the pain also seemed to migrate around to her sides at times. As we scrambled to find some Ibuprofen, she fell asleep on a blanket during the team's between game picnic.
When a teammate woke her up, as the time came to prepare for the second game, she limped out onto the field but couldn't take part in the warmups. Her coach talked to her and advised me to take her home. Something was wrong.
Given that she was sleeping outside the past week, she mentioned hantavirus, a very scary thought; or the start of her period, a non-scary idea; or maybe just a sore lower back from sleeping on the lumpy ground all week.
She cried almost all the way home. I knew she was bitterly disappointed to miss her team's second game, and also either sick or tired or injured in some mysterious way that confused both her and me.
Back home, she got into her PJs, ate some comfort food, and watched TV with her brothers. By night she was still in a lot of pain but looking much better. I dropped her at her Mom's and later in the evening got a text that she would be ready to play today.
As she and her friend approached the tunnel to the Polo Fields today she was in a good mood. Her 'butt bone' still hurt and it took her a long time to be able to get out of the car (she refused my help) but once she was upright, she was most definitely game-ready.
Her coach started her, and as the game progressed, it was amazing to see her transformation, from a limping girl with a hurt back into a competitive soccer player using her size and strength to take care of business.
At one point she did something every defender has to be able to do. Her keeper was down, the ball was loose in front of the net, two opposing strikers were ready to score, and Julia got the ball, knocked them aside, and cleared it from the zone.
In my memory, this was the single best play I have ever seen her make.
A few moments later, as a striker tried to get around her,(and I know this is going to sound bad to those of you who don't know soccer) she knocked the girl to the ground, took the ball, and moved it upfield, starting a counter attack.
The referee did not blow his whistle and signaled it was a clean tackle -- in fact a brilliant defensive play.
Julia doesn't show it openly, but her competitive instincts are as impressive as any athlete I have ever known.
You could say I'm just a little bit proud of my youngest child!
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