Soccer's goal: make the best of a situation

We are fortunate in Southwest Nebraska to not be subjected to the flooding that is ravaging the rest of the state.

And we continue to pray for and try to help those who have a long road ahead of them.

Back on our end of the state, we are instead faced with minor issues and must just try to make the best of the situation.

At the YMCA, it was trying to start the youth soccer season.

As we endured an actual winter with storm after storm, the Y was forced to push back the start of soccer season by two weeks. With snow continuously on the ground, we simply couldn’t hold games or even start practices.

Then the combination of extra moisture with the continuous layer of goose droppings at Barnett Park forced us to find a new location at the last minute.

(Let’s not get into the debate today over allowing the goose population to thrive versus the fishing availability. There’s not enough newspaper ink to solve that issue.)

Thankfully, this situation was resolved because of the collaboration of several organizations.

Thanks to McCook HIgh School principal Jeff Gross and activities director Darin Nichols, the soccer program was quickly shifted to the practice fields behind the junior high.

For this season, all of the older grades are playing on two fields painted directly behind the junior high field house.

This puts a lot of kids into one location, which is good and bad. On the downside, parents trying to pick up their kids after track practice are slowed as kids are dropped off for their soccer games.

But on the plus side, those kids who are doing both track and soccer can go straight from one practice to the next.

The City of McCook staff also continued to work with the YMCA to find fields for the soccer games after it was determined Barnett Park simply wouldn’t work this year.

Nate Schneider and Kyle Potthoff helped scour the city for open land to place new fields.

What many people may not realize is that there really isn’t a lot of flat, open, grassy areas in our community.

And it is easy to underestimate how much room is required for three fields.

So with the blessing of the city, the kindergarten field was located at the park next to the old Elk’s Tennis Courts.

It wasn’t ideal because there is a slope to the field that becomes readily apparent when a couple five- and six-year-olds are forced to kick the ball up hill.

In the end, we are simply trying to make the best of the situation.

Finally, the soccer program is able to move forward thanks to the help of many volunteers including dozens of coaches and assistant coaches.

Jeremy Shaw and Stacy Blomstedt stepped up as not only coaches but also to help paint lines and move goals.

And when I called at the last minute to shoot a picture about the soccer program, they stayed behind to finish the fields. That’s the joy of a small town and good friends.

The Y’s soccer season is always hit and miss.

We’ve played games in the snow where officials had to guess where the out-of-bound lines were marked.

We’ve cancelled games because the wind was blowing so hard we were worried the first graders would end up in Kansas. A

nd even when the sun is shining, we’ve ended the days with the officials looking very similar to lobsters.

So, thank you to everyone for their patience as we try to get in a full soccer season.

Mother Nature is throwing everything she can at us, but we will continue to make the best of the situation.