…. and believe it or not I am not talking NCAA basketball either.  The start of another Region 1 soccer season is about to begin.

Let’s recap the madness last year – the team’s one year in the Director’s league.  Granted, it was a prestigious move but it was a costly one on the gas tanks of parents’ cars.  The team played some of the top teams in the U18 girls’ age bracket in the country.  Unfortunately, that esteem gets the “better” team less travel.  To start with, games began this past weekend a year ago.  The team was scheduled to play in south Jersey.  Unfortunately, a late season snow storm left the fields under 10 inches plus of snow.  Well, a lot of scurrying around and we were set to move the games to Binghamton.  Turf field and only the cold to worry about.  Should have known that was too easy a solution.  We ended up playing in Vineland, NJ – air temp 50, windchill during our early game 30.  Who knows how cold it got the late game?

Then, the next weekend of play – fields in CT weren’t ready either.  The day before the games they were still finding fields and charging us for those fields.  Original play was for us to move between games until someone put their foot down.  The out of town/state teams would stay put.  The CT teams would drive between fields.

Then, we played our one and only home game – a beautiful sunny day in April at Alumni field in Binghamton.  Turf was good and we won.  We were heading into the final weekend of play in second place.  Not sure that settled well with a lot of people but we had the two top teams in the division to play still so no worries.

One hundred miles from home when the call came it was too rainy – who the heck has ever heard of  that for an excuse to cancel/postpone a soccer game!!! – turn around and go home.  We will be in touch to reschedule.  Well, the reschedule was a war of emails and words.  Our team lost.  We traveled to Dominican College for the first game – basically a home game for the Rockville Centre Hot Shots.  Then, it was up to North Rockland to be punished again.

If anyone ever thought there was inequities in youth sports, let’s look at this one.  If any games had been scheduled for our turf, they would have gone off as planned – right day, no location change, on time.  Instead, the “better” teams got their way and the day or two before every weekend of play, the location or something would change.

The “new kids on the block” drove almost 800 miles one way to games.  The “better” teams drove approximately 200 one way to games.  Not much parity there..

And this weekend, the “madness” begins again…..