Naomi In Nihon: Spring Soccer Tournament in Nagano (Sunday, May 17, 2009)

The Fall Tournament was so much fun that I’ve been looking forward to this one all year long!! There were a couple unfortunates: I wasn’t in as good of shape as I would have liked to be due to the Road Trip and sternum pains, the weather was rainy, cold, and windy, and I had to play again with kiddie shin guards. Aside from these three things, it was a grand GRAND time. Though collectively, our girls’ team was THE most inexperienced teams there, a couple more girls DID have previous soccer-playing experience and were able to share both their knowledge and skills on the field. We. Actually. Won. A. Game!! At the end of Day One, we were in 3^rd of 5~6 teams. The food and party were a good time as usual. I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked but then again, but mostly everyone was in the same boat for Sunday. Sunday was really cold and wet and oh boy was it ever windy. While it would have been nice to win some and move up, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who was happy with loosing and not having to play in that wretched weather any longer. We ended Sunday in 5^th place out of 6 teams … only the 6^th place team forfeited… Our Niigata boys were AWESOME!! They actually got together to practice before the tournament and kicked BUTT!! They might got 3^rd out of 12 teams!! Watching them play and work their feet was almost more enjoyable than actually playing!