2 Weekends of Nothing but Field Hockey

Last weekend (May 20th) I brought my younger girls from Rancho Minerva to participate in Play for Pink, a tournament to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer, held at Vista High School. The girls had to learn some new rules that took them a little bit to remember, but they caught on after a couple games. The girls had pink hairspray, make up, nail polish, you name it. Even one of the girls Dad colored his hair pink. The girls did a great job and they loved playing on the turf. 

During Memorial Day weekend I took a U14 team with Rancho to Cal Cup. Cal Cup is a huge tourney that people from all over, like Taiwan, India, and Ireland come to play. They have teams ranging from 8 to 55 years old. It's a pretty big deal. I played from 6th to 12th grade and this was my first time coaching. 3 girls were from Rancho Minerva while the rest came from Madison. It was so much fun being up in Moorpark again and being around hundreds of people playing nothing but field hockey. I always love seeing the kids 10 and under playing because their sticks are so tiny. Ryan came up with me and I think he had a fun time. He's really starting to like field hockey and I'm sure if I ever move up to high school level, he'll enjoy it even more. Middle school is completely different compared to high school with less fouls and a quicker pace.  But back to Cal Cup...the girls dominated pool play, but couldn't get the ball into the goal. They were sooo close every game and it didn't help having some crappy refs. I had two other girls playing on the U16 team with Rancho, but I wasn't able to watch them play, but I think their team got 3rd place! I really hope that next year I will be playing on a team, but I would be happy if I was only coaching.