Jared Scores Twice for COSSA Championship

Can I brag just a little bit?

Just a little, I promise.

Here's my baby, front page of the SPORTS section in The Belleville Intelligencer, Friday, November 6, 2009. (Jared is the player in black. Click on photo and it should enlarge if you want to read the article.)

Jared - Belleville Intelligencer - Friday, November 6, 2009

The P.E.C.I. Panthers in Junior Boys Soccer worked hard in the mix of drizzling and pouring rain (for BOTH games!) to take home the big COSSA* soccer trophy for P.E.C.I. to display in the trophy cabinet.

*COSSA - Central Ontario Secondary School Athletics

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They never let up on their pressure in either game. In Game #1 they defeated the Jr. Boys team from Lindsay, Ontario in a score of 1-0, with Jared earning the 'assist' in the goal. Game #2 found the team a win as they battled Belleville's St. Theresa's Titans with Jared scoring two of the four goals as well as earning another 'assist'. Final score was 4-1, earning Prince Edward's high school Juniors the COSSA trophy for First Place for the first time.

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We had some very excited 20+ boys, along with coaches, assistants, and some pretty exhuberant soccer moms and dads on the sidelines. Parents were thankful when the game was over, as we mostly held our breaths as we watched our kids "give their all", sometimes resulting in injuries.

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Jared collided with another player, both of them landing flat on the ground. Unfortunately for Jared, the other player landed on Jared's head. Jarey laid still on the field, not moving a bit!, until the coach felt he was OK and alert enough to stand to leave the field. Of course, ol' Mother Hen was at the opposite end of the field....
......grasping the arm rests of her lawnchair.....
......refraining herself from running across the field.....
......wanting to be at the side of her baby boy who was laying there, not moving....
......waiting for the summons of Coach Dave to come get her boy and head to Trenton's Emergency Department to await a CT Scan of his head!
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Sometimes it's more exhausting to be the parent watching the game than it is to be the kid physically playing the game.
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Jarey appeared to be a bit stunned, but after sitting out for about ten minutes, he regained his ability to play. [Whew, avoided Emerg THIS time...] Moments afterwards, Damien had major physical contact with an opposing player and got a face full of cleat. With scratched up face and a little bleeding in the mouth, he too was ready to keep pressing on to win the championship for his teammates and school.

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My "adopted son" Matthew held the position of goalie for Game #1, and since Gudrun (Matt's Mom.... Hi Gudrun!) couldn't be at the game, I took over the roll of Matt's Mom and was "nervous FOR her". Matty was covered in mud and freezing because of the rain; however he worked hard to make it a shut-out game.

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I'm very proud of my boys and their strong physical abilities to give everything they've got for their team. Many times I have to tell them to "take it easy".

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I will have more photos coming up soon on the blog of these games as well as some games from semi-final and finals for the Bay of Quinte title. Tune in again soon to see me brag just a LITTLE bit more.....
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If you clicked on the picture, it should have enlarged for you to read the article. If not, click HERE to read the article online, but the photo does not seem to appear on the online version.
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Now I finally get to put those stinky soccer cleats away for the season..... man oh man these kids can reek of a strong, unpleasant, foul smell! But as long as they had fun, what's a little stinkiness, eh?