A Dream Come True

Since C attended the University of Notre Dame's soccer camp two summers ago, she's been wanting to watch the team in action. We had the chance to watch the team play UC last fall, but the game was rained out and when missed the makeup.

So it was awesome that fall break coincided with ND's home soccer schedule. So we trooped up to watch the women's team play.

It was a lot of fun to watch the game, a pretty decent sized crowd, and free stuff. And I mean LOTS of it. We paid for our tickets and as soon as we walked in we received fleece blankets with Irish ND soccer stitched on them and cool carrying handles too. Then we were able to get posters of the team, magnets and players' cards. C was thrilled and A was a little excited too. (S wasn't able to join us this time because of work obligations and basketball try-outs. We were bummed out and missed him.)

The game was great. C parked herself by the fence for the entire game. She wore the ND goalie jersey her dear grandma gave her for Christmas after her soccer camp. Watching Karas play was definately the highlight of her year. She would yell kudos or reassurances to Karas after she would make a play. She would encourage the team to get the ball down the field and score. And mostly she smiled. A lot.

It was also cool to see the cheerleaders and Leprechaun at the game cheering on the soccer team to victory. They incorporated a lot of their football cheers for the soccer field. The Leprechaun even played a little soccer at halftime with the local girls soccer team who were ball girls for the game.

At the end of the game (which the Irish won 5-0), the girls were able to get the autographs of most of the players. Karas was the last one to come off the field. She remembered C by the Irish goalie jersey C was wearing. (Karas had sold it to my dear mom to give to C as a Christmas gift in 2006.) She had hugs for C and A and for me as well, thanking me for bringing C to a game. It made my night.

I know we bleed blue and gold, but the players on this team not only excel on the field but also off it. They showed C that while improving her soccer skills was a good thing, it was even more important to improve her school skills and take good care of herself. We've now seen 1.5 Irish women's soccer games. (The 1/2 game was a rain out at UC last fall. During the rain delay one of the players and one of the coaches took the time to talk to C while they waited for the all clear. While I know they had "better" things to do during a rain delay, their actions placed C as important as game prep - which impressed me tremendously.) I'm honestly grateful that C has had such good role models in a time when sports "heroes" don't always live up to their expectations. I'm happy to say these players do. Thanks, ND women's soccer program, for making such a positive difference in my daughter's life!