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Another Winter Sport Season

© Sue Murray

Now as we head into the dying moments of July I take a breath and look back on half of another season of winter sports. As I am on to the last of my children living at home, I am pleasantly surprised at how much less stress there is, when I only have to play taxi, supporter, and my turn at the team washer to just one child.

In the winter the usual sports New Zealand children play are either: Rugby, Soccer, Netball and Hockey. There are different versions and rules depending on the age of the children, and the sports but they still all have the same basic strategy. There is a ball and a goal, and that's where we have to get the ball.

I will have to admit that I have been a Mum supporter for rugby, soccer and netball, and harriers (cross country running). Traditionally Rugby and Soccer were thought of as a males sport and Netball as a females sport. As time has moved so has traditions and my family is an example of this, with all my children playing netball, at some point, my son included and one daughter also played rugby, the other daughter played soccer and my son has played soccer and is now playing rugby.

What this means for me is I have had 15 years of early rises on a Saturday morning, and long hours standing out in the wind, frost, cold, rain and once some snow, to support this winter madness. If my son continues I will have another 5 years to go. I wonder if they give out best player awards for parents?

A couple of weekends ago, it was a real miserable start to the day, just the kind of day that you pray for , cause maybe, just maybe, they will cancel the game and for once I will get a lie-in.. But now that my son has reach the age of 13 years and rugby is meant to be a 'mans' sport, so no wimps allowed, they declared it as still on. Urgh !! Out came the thick socks, boots, raincoat, hat, and gloves.

As another team played before us the field was a very large mud puddle, with a few blades of grass hiding what was underneath. The boys had a wonderful time. Their most favorite move was doing a sliding tackle,, because this way they got the best mud to stomach coverage. Incidentally our team won. Us parents stomped up and down the sideline; 1. To cheer the boys on. 2. To keep our feet from freezing or getting stuck in the mud. We decided at the end that it would not be a team wash of the jerseys, but thankfully we each had to only deal with our own mud.

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