Kick Off

  Throughout these next few weeks I will closely observe how well treated and mistreated our field is for the duration of the season. I've made a total of ten observations thus far that were somewhat interesting as well as not surprising. Thanks to these observations I have already gained some knowledge on the fields maintenance schedule, for example: the outline of the field is always painted a day before game day as well as cleared of any litter on the same day. Next, I noticed that the grass is is normally cut on Wednesdays during lunch but is rarely cut. I've noticed one thing out of the ordinary about three weeks ago. There seemed to be a leak coming from one of the sprinklers which caused there to be many puddles all over the field due to this in my opinion, an entire colony of mosquitoes was attracted. Although the mosquitoes only survived one day thanks to the smoke it was very strange to have puddles and such large quantity of insects at the field. As the seasons change the grass has become somewhat dry and yellow (our cleats also have a huge impact on this) so I will look out for any physical as well as surrounding changes in the field for these next couple of weeks.

  One thing many athletes experience during their season, is the enjoyment of their field/practice area. Creating memories and growing some sort of soft hate for the coach as he yells at you or makes you run for something completely absurd. So I have decided to focus my observation on the one thing that I have yet to closely admire. For past two, almost three years of my life I've dedicated two and a half months of my first semester time: each year, to the school soccer team. Practicing everyday and attending a scattered amount of home games on Wednesday and Saturdays I had yet to notice something so valuable and fundamental to my student athlete career. Our second home for two and a half months known as the "half softball, half soccer field" as well as our training and game field; is always there for us when we need it most. In hardship, whether it be personal or as a team as well as in triumph being on that field we always find a way to feel like nothing ever happened. Getting back on our feet from a loss and tearing the roots as we run our English miles or six to six, she never gives up on us. So thanks to this observation project I'd like to pay tribute to the one place where everything always feels right even when things aren't. 
First game of the season