lessons

More lacrosse games today.

Our first game was against the University of Buffalo and we lost that (long story short), but mostly because they weren't in our league. Also because the girls on this team were just the girls who didn't make the varsity lacrosse team that UB also has. So they're essentially just shy of being varsity players. Also, they have a coach, (a paid staff coach) which I think probably helps. We lost 2-10. It was not a pretty game on our part, although I have to say that if we're gonna lose, I want to lose to a team who wins as beautifully as UB did. Their technique was amazing, their goalie was fantastic, their fluidity as a team was just so pretty to watch. If I wasn't so frustrated to be losing, I would have thought it was the coolest thing to see.

Second game was much better. We played John Carroll, who was good, but not as good as UB, and our level of play was already up from playing UB first. We beat JC 10-7 (which was pretty awesome) and I had - count 'em - eight saves in the game. Please allow me to put that in perspective. Remember how I said that coach sat me down and told me that LAX goalies usually save 30% of what's thrown at them on a good day? I saved eight out of fifteen shots. That's not bad for a long-time goalie and pretty damn good for the fourth game I've ever played in my life. 

I think I decided that I like playing on a team better than I like playing individually. I was nervous at first because I had the mindset that if I screwed up, I was letting down twenty other girls. And then it occurred to me after the first game on Wednesday, when all twenty of those girls came charging across the field at me to jump up and down when I made my fifth save, right before the buzzer, in my first game ever, that I was looking at it backwards. When I do well, all twenty of those people are happy for me. 

This is a huge learning experience for me. I mean, learning lacrosse, yes, but also being part of a team, being part of something bigger than yourself and realizing that you're just that - a part. It's not about me. It's not about Roop or EO or Umble or Amy or Lizzy or Cerise or Miller or Buckle or Katelyn. It's about all of us. 

I can tell that playing a team sport is having an effect on other things that I'm doing too. I got three compliments in the last week that I didn't think I'd ever hear applied to me. Ever. First, Lizzy told me after our Wednesday game that I was excellent at keeping my temper in check. There were way way too many penalty shots taken during that game, and it was because of stupid mistakes that my own girls were making. She said that I was good at not getting mad at the fact that I had to deal with their mistakes and also being respectful to the referees. Now, I know I have a pretty swift temper, so I found that sort of impressive.

Secondly, I had to go in and talk with my Civ Arts professor the other day about my paper. After he told me that it was very good, but off-topic, he brought up several points that he thought were off. I had an answer for every single one, and by the time we were done talking, he was smiling. "You know you're the first student who's come in to talk with me who hasn't gotten defensive about their answers?" he said. "And you had answers. I'm impressed. You're a very good, respectful arguer." I've always been a good arguer, but I think working so much in a group and having to tread lightly when challenging refs has really been beaten into me as of late.

Third, my friend Cassie came into my room on Thursday night, plopped down on my bed, and was telling me about some problems she's been having as of late. We talked for about 45 minutes and then I had to go to practice, and when she got up to go she stopped at the door and said, "You know Rissa, you're a really good listener. And you give pretty good advice." I've never been a good listener. Usually I'm just waiting for the next opportunity to talk. And I'm horrible at giving advice. Maybe having to be able to talk with people at practice and having to take instruction and criticism has been rubbing off to other parts of life. I feel obligated to listen to what people are telling me when I play lacrosse, because if I refuse to correct my mistakes, it affects more than just myself. My stubbornness gets my team nowhere.

Plus sometimes I just can't shut off goalie mode. After our game last night, I went to go watch Stephen's hall play IM dodgeball (which is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen) and my friend Jordan kept cracking up because I was sitting on the sidelines trying to direct all their players. Finally Keith got fed up and made me come down closer and actually talk to them while they were playing. So now I'm "coaching" IM dodgeball. 

So it's just sort of cool to see. I'd do a lot for those girls (my bruises prove that, I think). They're really amazing, great girls. And it's a great game. And I think it's the coolest thing that they have lacrosse as a club sport. Because if it was varsity, I wouldn't be playing. And if I wasn't playing, I wouldn't be learning all this sweet stuff.

I'm off to do homework now, and then I'm going to go watch a movie with Stephen, and then I'm going to bed because I have church in the morning. (Oh! P.S.! Stephen is such a sweetheart. Our games today were at 10 and noon. I thought I had him convinced last night not to come in the morning because he'd been at the game at night and it was early and blah blah and we'd meet up for lunch afterward. Nope. Just as the girls were meeting in center field at 10:00 am to draw for the opening of the match, here comes Stephen in his coat and hat, with his coffeecup in his hand and he sat through both of the games today, cheering the whole time. What a swell guy. He makes me smile.)