The temperature took a big drop this weekend, with lots of rain, just in time for the girls soccer games. EM's game was especially miserable because of the wind. All the girls were cold and most of them didn't want to play, but rather snuggle in their blankets on the sidelines. EM found the muddy field especially challenging because any dirt on her clothes or shoes really bothers her, so she mostly spent her time checking whether she had gotten dirty.
Since the other team seemed less bothered by the cold and mud, mostly they moved the ball directly to their goal without any opposition from our team who were huddled together crying or shivering. After three quarters and the score around 25-0, the other team's coach and the referee tried to talk our coach into calling the game. Now while our coach is normally a friendly and sane person, for some reason she insisted that the game continue to the end. EM refused to go back out on the field for the last quarter. At last the game ended and we could go home for some hot chocolate.
This reminds me of a time many, many years ago when I was teaching swimming lessons. The heater on the pool went out in early spring and the pool temperature was so cold that it was miserable for teacher and students alike. Our management insisted that we still have lessons that day because they didn't want to refund money for a lost day. Some teachers refused to get in the water to teach, but made their students swim anyway (only older ones) and some of us suffered through the four hours of being in the water that day. Whenever I had first aid classes on hypothermia after that, it was easy to name off all the symptoms for second degree hypothermia because of my personal experience with them. The silly thing is that in the end, there were so many complaints from parents, that the managers had to refund anyway. The bottom line for me is that when the kids are shivering and not having fun, its time to call it a day.
A final note on the soccer games. Later in the day the temperature rose a bit. JA's team quickly took a commanding lead and she got to play goalie all of the second half. Most of the girls on her team are also on a travel team with the same coach, but fortunately, as long a JA and the other non-travel girl are playing hard, they still get in playing time.
