Youth Soccer and Tournaments

I came across an article in the Deseret News with regards youth soccer and tournaments.  I am not a great fan of soccer tournaments.  They are played on Saturday and Sunday, and I always had a problem with Sunday games.  Also the organizers often pit teams of unequal ability which is really not fun for either team.  I remember one son playing a highly advanced team and the score was so lopsided by half time that the coach spent the second half working on an off sides trap to try and keep the other team at bay.  Not a fun game.  In the article a pediatric doctor Scott Pugh.  He points out another negative is the time spent in cars traveling to the tournament rather than participating in the sport.  Most important perhaps, the doctor also says participating in more than two games a week increases the risk of injury by six times.  Tournaments often involve four or five games in a weekend.   There must be some better alternatives.  

Junior High/High School Friend: Kent Nate

Kent Nate

Having watched the movie “Cokeville Miracle” reminds me of Kent Nate, who moved into our Hyrum Fourth Ward when I was in Junior High.  He moved there from Cokeville.  I was introduced to Kent when someone asked me how I liked being replaced as the best basketball player in our age group at the wad.  We would play a lot of basketball for scouts.  And I wasn’t the best basketball player, that honor went to Brad Thomas who was much taller than me.  However I was the best guard, and Kent Nate fit right into our system as playing guard with me and challenging me for the top honor.  Honestly I would say we were evenly matched, even though Kent was a year younger than me (as was Brad Thomas.)  It seemed Kent and Brad became close friends.  We had experiences playing together for church basketball games, which was an organized league as I was growing up, and also experiences with scout camps and scouting.  Our ward boundaries changed several times, and we eventually were no longer in the same ward.  I went back to the second ward, while there were also sixth and eight wards along with the fourth ward.  I even heard Kent’s family moved back to Cokeville.  I did notice there were several kids with the last name Nate in the documentary of the Cokeville Miracle who must have been related.