GETTING
THEIR KICKS
Published on August 5,
2003 © 2003- The Press Democrat
BYLINE:
SUSAN SWARTZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Alicia Sanchez watched her
kids play soccer and wondered how it would be to play a team sport.
When she was young there had been no time for being an athlete.
``My father said to
concentrate on academics. The only B I ever got at Santa Rosa High
was in phys. ed,'' said Sanchez, a union organizer in Sonoma County.
Five years ago she started
playing soccer and now, at age 52, Sanchez is co-captain of the
Fuego soccer team, made up of soccer moms like herself. Make that
soccer-playing moms, who've moved out of the bleachers and onto the
field, some of them wearing their kids' old shoes and shin guards.
This week the Fuegos,
supplemented by a few add-on players, a total of 16, are in Hawaii
to compete in the women's over-40 Veteran's Cup soccer tournament in
Honolulu. For the tournament they call themselves the California
Krush and in their fund-raising flier promoted themselves as,
``Wives and mommies who have carpooled, cheered from the sidelines
and who boldly say, `It's our turn now.'''
Krush players range in age
from 40 to 52. Most of them hold full-time jobs -- including a
junior college teacher, winery worker, school counselor, nurse, UPS
driver, medical professional. Most of them have kids who play
soccer. Their athletic experience varies.
One of their trainers, Mark
Bartson, whose wife, Dalia, is on the team, said, ``They're a mixed
bag but they're all competitive and like to play real hard. They
have a lot of pent-up soccer energy from watching the game so many
years.''
Pam Mason was a cross-country
ski guide and a lifeguard when she was younger but said, ``I'm still
learning soccer.'' She likes the team aspect. As a Santa Rosa
day-care provider and mother of two, it gives her the rare chance
``to communicate with adults.''
Mason's kids play soccer too,
and becoming a player herself has given her empathy that she lacked
as a parent critiquing from the sidelines.
``Now I know that sometimes a
player is just having a bad day.''
Michelle Mason, her
14-year-old, agrees. ``Now she knows how it feels to be out there.''
As for her mother taking up
soccer in her 40s, Michelle said, ``I think it's really good. It
shows that you're never too old to play sports.''
The women talk about soccer as
combination therapy, play date for grown-ups, unbeatable
cardio-vascular and lower body exercise and social outlet.
``No more quilting groups.
It's soccer for us,'' said Valerie Knibb, 42, vowing, ``I'll play
until I'm dead.''
As a group they've suffered
pulled muscles and broken bones and just about every one of them
complains about their knees, which Taryn Lewis explained is the most
vulnerable spot for a woman player.
``It's because of how we carry
our weight on our thighs. That makes us susceptible to back and
forth motions.''
Lewis has injured both knees
and been out for three months at a time for each. She once had to go
to a job interview after a game.
``I was limping and had a
black eye. I didn't get the job.''
Worth the pain
But she, like every woman on
the team, makes it sound like soccer is worth most any sacrifice.
``I like doing things to
exertion,'' said Lewis. ``I love to sweat. When I ask myself if I
should keep doing this, I realize I have no choice. I have to play
soccer. It's too much fun.''
Lewis works for Sonoma County
in human services and still had babies at home when she saw a notice
about a coed soccer team.
``It said no skill required. I
showed up with my sweat pants over my shorts so I could look like I
was just checking things out. It was the bravest thing I ever did. I
was awful when I first started but I didn't know it. I thought
everyone was playing close to me to be friendly. I didn't know they
were afraid I would muff it.''
Lewis, age 43, mother of two
daughters, has left her family at home to go to Hawaii. It's only
the second time she's traveled without her kids and husband. ``It's
a great gift to not be responsible for someone else.''
Fund-raisers
Cati Day has taken her
10-month-old son with her because she's still nursing. Her husband
and teen-age son have also gone along and her husband is acting as
the Krush coach in Hawaii.
Since spring the women have
been putting on garage sales and other fund-raisers to collect money
to cover their registration and travel. They have two sponsors -- Sports
City in Santa Rosa, where many of them play indoor soccer,
and an online jewelry company, www.XinaR.com.
Theirs is the only women's
over-40 team from California.
``I went to the Women's World
Cup games in 1999 in Stanford,'' said Sanchez, ``and I thought, we
can do this.''
Many of the women play on
multiple teams. The once-intimidated Lewis now plays on four
different teams. Anyone who ever arrives late for practice puts in a
dollar to the party fund, which on a recent night they spent at
Chevy's in Railroad Square, their new red jerseys as bright as the
pitchers of strawberry margaritas.
Like good teammates they pump
each other up. Maureen Traveller, 46, is a goalie and when she
confesses to a visitor that she's not as good as the others, Teresa
Woods jumped in to advocate.
``What do you mean? It takes
quick reflexes and courage to be a goalie. It's a really hard
position,'' said Woods, a legal nurse consultant who played
volleyball and was a cheerleader in school, but is new to soccer.
Traveller said they all have
an embarrassing habit of ``always saying we're sorry'' to each other
on the field. Sanchez once broke into tears when she knocked the
wind out of another.
``We're mothers, you know,''
said Traveller.
``Yeah, but we run all over
the other team,'' added Woods.
Dalia, 41, who on that recent
night at Chevy's was wearing a knee brace, said she got excited
watching her kids play the game, but didn't consider it for herself
until she was in her mid-30s.
``I think playing a sport
helps us as women. When you play a sport you're a person who has a
mind, who can make a decision.''
Non-jock
Debbie Fleckenstine, 49, of
Rohnert Park said she was never a jock as a child. ``But somehow I
always felt athletic.''
She started playing coed
soccer 15 years ago and got pummeled in one of her first games. ``I
went up for a head ball and this other player threw her head in my
face. The next day was Easter and I went to church with my cheek out
to here.''
The women say they've learned
to appreciate that size and age are of relative importance for
playing well.
``I think what soccer takes
most is good lungs,'' said Sanchez. ``We went to play this one team
and they were all big, wide women. I said `poor gorditas' (Spanish
for fat ones). We'll run them ragged.
``Well, you know what? They
beat the heck out of us.''
Now she's encouraged to hear
of a soccer league of women over 60. ``Hey, we can keep going.''
What Laura Waterhouse-Hammond
likes is that her soccer friends were hers to choose. ``They're not
my daughter's friends' moms or my husband's friends from work.''
Mother of two, she's gone to
Hawaii with her daughter and her mother-in-law, calling it a girls
outing.
In Hawaii the Sonoma County
team is playing at least three games, and will either be eliminated
or continue on.
``We all go back and forth
between saying we deserve to do this, to feeling guilty for taking
the time away from family,'' said Sanchez. ``Some of us have given
up the idea that we will be recruited to the Women's World Cup
games, but you never know.''
The first time Sanchez played
was in a walk-in game at Sports City. ``A woman told
me two things. Hit the ball towards the net. And see that person in
the opposite color? Stick to her like glue.''
You can e-mail Susan Swartz at
sswartz@pressdemocrat.com. PHOTO: 5 by SCOTT MANCHESTER / The Press
Democrat
1: Left, Dylan Day, 10 months, watches his mom, Cati Day, prepare
for practice with the California Krush women's soccer team, which is
in Hawaii this week to play in a women's over-40 tournament. 2:
Laura Waterhouse-Hammond steals the ball from Pam Mason during a
practice session for the California Krush. Most team members, who
range in age from 40 to 52, have full-time jobs and are soccer moms
-they have children who play soccer. The Krush players' experience
levels also vary.
3: Krush team members, some shown here going for a run during
practice, include a junior college teacher, a winery worker, a
school counselor, a nurse, a UPS driver and a medical professional.
4: Members of the California Krush over-40 women's soccer team warm
up for a practice session in Santa Rosa. Many of the women play on
multiple teams.
5: Valerie Knibb drives past Cati Day during a California Krush
practice. |
