Game Summary and Post Retirement

Game Summary - Hill School:
L 9-0. Overall record: 3-15. League: 2-11.

Was this a fitting finale for 9 years?
Yes it was. The usual.
Warm ups were slow and sloppy. Shooting started out good and finished with threat that if your shot was over - then you do not play today.
What did that get me? Shots at the keeper about 10mph. Typical..... I then had to resort to 30 pushups.
For the first few minutes we looked respectable - but the clue was no one talking except the Hill players and we were getting lucky.
Luck wore out and we let them run with the ball. Most times 1 on 1 which should had never been if we were a team.
Score at half - 7 to zip. More like a baseball score than soccer.
I attempted to be nice at halftime speech since this was my last, until the usual crap of someone talking in the group while I was trying to explain the usual of what was going wrong.
Then I kind of got mad. Again. I promised myself I would not let them get to me.
I told them that if this happened when I was in high school I would be embarrassed. I would be so angry at my team mates the I would have begged my coach to play for the whole team. I would have yelled at my friends to pick it up and do not back down after the first goal. I would have been so psyched that I probably would have been all over the field to cover who had that ball. I did not want it announced the next day or see it in the paper that we had lost so badly.
The rest is a blur.
We did play better the second half but not up the way we know how to play.
We had chances but made it easy for the keeper.
At the end after the handshakes the Hill coach thanked me for the years of coaching at Pius and that most would not have lasted as long. I knew exactly what he was talking about. But I'm not about winning. I am about playing your all. Giving me all that you have.
As I walked over to the bench, everyone was busy getting changed. Why? Who know. They could do that on the Bus.
Kane sat on the bench and said "yo - sit down. Are we having our post game speech?" I asked John why? What is there to talk about?
As I walked off the field carrying my bag for the last game, I looked around and took it all in. For this would probably be the last time I did this.

I thought back to the first Hill game when it was a battle in the first half. We were losing 1-0 at the time. I remember pulling Lauro and Kelleher out to show them the space they were giving us in the middle and designing a quick play for them. I subbed them both back in and seconds later Kelleher gets the ball and Lauro makes the run.
Perfect.
Kelleher puts the ball right on Lauro's feet making the run. Lauro steps on the ball and snaps his ankle. Bad.
Real bad. To the hospital bad.

As I got on the bus the usual mayhem ensued. I yelled for them to put all varsity uniforms in the bag.
The bus pulled into the Pius parking lot and it really felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders as this was the end.
The bus stopped and as usual they all start to get up and I have to yell for them to sit down and close the windows. You think they might have gotten used to that.
I tell them that it was an interesting season. To keep playing and have a great life.
That's it.
I started packing my car when Mr. Rodriguez came over to thank me for the season. I told him that I was done too. This came as a surprise to him.

Two players did come up to me and personally thank me.
They made it difficult for me to hold it together.
Rapp came up to me first and shook my hand and thanked me for everything .
Sein-Lwin came next about a minute later. Shook me hand and said "Thanks coach. We are going to have a great team next year. Sure you don't want to coach us?"
That was hard enough for me to keep it together.
I had a few beep and wave from their car.
Rapp and Sein-Lwin are class acts. They will go places in life and I'd bet on that.


In the future I'll post some other memories that I have of the years at Pius.