Soccer Week 2 - Arrrrgh indeed.

So our team has a pirate theme that we use as part of our cheer. It's all in good fun and the kids really enjoy it. Little did I know that in week 2 we'd pay for that with the weather.
We showed up at the field bundled up and ready for play. The forecast said 9 degrees (yes, single digits on the last day of May) with rain. There was cold and rain. A doubble whammy.
Monkey was dressed in shorts, fleece pants, rain pants, his soccer jersey, a fleece vest, a jacket and finally his rain jacket - hood up. It was really cute, but it was really, really gross out there. We started our practice, complete with plenty of waves to the parents, and I found the other team's coach. We agreed to cut things short if things got worse. The practice went well for the first half an hour. The kids got lots of touches on the ball and Monkey was having a great time. Then the wind picked up, the rain fell harder and the chill took on even more of an effect. I nodded to the other coach and we started the game.
We played well, quite well in fact, and even scored the first goal of the game. Woo hoo!!! The kids all celebrated and it was a lot of fun. I noticed however that the smiles were waining as the hands on lots of kids (some in just shorts and a jersey) were turning to pink from the cold. The parents, bundled and huddled under umbrellas, agreed for half time, then a short second half. My assistant coach suggested that we stop with the shifts and just throw everyone on for some fun. It was a 5 minute burst of enthusiasm followed by a quick run to the cars. I grabbed the calls that some kids left behind and we were off.
A quick call to mommy and some hot chocolate was waiting for us at home. We had it on our way to the bathroom as we had a nice, long, hot shower.
Bring on summer.
(forecast for the next game as of today - sunny and 21 degrees - anyone wanna join the fan club and cheer Monkey on??)