* * *
Next a sport we see very little of, but which Alban indulges in regularly and
often, skateboarding.
It is a sport which unites him with the community of his peers, but does
not seem to have a formal organization or spectators outside of the skaters'
peers. Here is a shot of Alban in a skate
park taken by one of his friends. We rarely hear of demonstrations or
competition. At least, we rarely see him at play.
The photo on the left was taken by one of his friends, and you can't even see
the board!
So we remedy that by including the above shot of an old skateboard that Alban
adapted for use on the trampoline in our yard. The sneakers are taped to the
board by reams of duct tape. He would jump off the wall down onto the trampoline
"wearing" that board! Perhaps coincidentally, we needed to change the
jumping mat this year, after ten years of faithful service.
* * *
Charles has taken up track and field at junior high, with a short season of
practices and meets with other local schools during the spring.
At one time or another Charlie ran the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4
X 100 meters and 4 X 400 meters, and high jumped and threw the discus. Not all
at every meet!
His 4 X 400 relay team won at least one of the meets, and we were there to
capture the moment after they were awarded their medals. From left to right,
Charlie, Alec, David and Dylan.
* * *
But in 2009, as in prior years, most of our sports energy was devoted to
soccer. Alex and Charlie played in teams almost all year long, Nick played here
and there in pick-up games, and the parents watched and watched (Alex and
Charlie: we never know when Nick is going to play).
Several of us also attended occasional professional soccer games, normally
the MSL's San Jose Earthquakes home games, as a diversion. I jest! But in August
we saw something very special. Spain's FC Barcelona, the team that won last
year's EUFA Champion's League, as well as the Spanish Cup, with the Spanish
league title thrown in for good measure, played Mexico's in Candlestick Park in
San Francisco.
What a show they put on! Think the Harlem Globetrotters, but in soccer.
Barcelona features a couple of the best players in the world, and a whole team
that passes the ball without apparent effort, often without appearing to look or
reflect, making the pitch a kind of human pinball table and making themselves
fabulous and intricate scoring chances. Watching this was a reminder of why they
call football the "beautiful game." Even Marie-Hélène
borrowed Alex's trumpet and joined in!
We don't seem to have a lot of pictures of the boys playing from this year.
It was not an easy year, for the parents as much as the boys.
The one on the left, of Charlie playing indoor soccer at Indoor Soccer
Central in Watsonville, was taken by Carl Galewski, another parent on that team.
Great shot, Carl!
Great style Charlie! Check out that balance, arms outstretched like wings
keeping himself steady while he prepares to shoot or cross.
Below is one of Alex also showing fine form, at full stretch ahead of the boy
on the other team pursuing a ball which is just out of the frame.
The occasion was San Diego's Surf Cup, a high level tournament featuring some
of the best teams from the Western States. Alex's team had earned the right to
participate because they had won the Norcal State Cup a few months previously.
Sixteen players and their parents duly trooped down to San Diego for a
three-day weekend, a weekend that was our longest weekend of the summer: we need
to work on that!
It was a great weekend. The boys did as well as could be expected, coming
from a small county like Santa Cruz and playing teams taking players from all
over the Los Angeles area and Dallas area: one win, one loss and one tie. They
missed advancing to the quarter finals on goal difference only.
The loss was to the LA team which went on to win this tournament and is the
number one ranked team at this age in the US. How do those boys play so well so
young?! Truly amazing. But even though they lost, our boys never let that
amazing team run over them. The final score was 3-1. No shame.
The motel we all stayed in had a great swimming pool, and after the third
game almost the entire team spent a couple of hours relaxing and winding down in
the pool. Charlie is crouching behind the boys with his thumbs up in this photo,
which includes other siblings, and the only person in the photo with pasty white
English skin is also in this family!
