Upon Further Review

With e-mail accounts fired up and cell-phone minutes burning away from parents and “fans,“ it would have been easy for the Little Giants girls soccer team to let it get to them.

Nah, that would have been the wrong thing to do. Giving up would have made stupidity from the stands reign supreme over the players on the pitch.

I don’t care who paid for it, how it got there and how much it costs to pump those twinkling lights that surround the Waynesboro pitch full of electricity. Neither did the Little Giants girls soccer team Thursday against Rockbridge. In a game that would have been too easy to lose, they staked ownership of that pitch and let out a resounding cry that, for 90 minutes each game night, they control what they do and how they do it.

Sorry “adults.“ No. Not yours.

And that’s what makes the Little Giants’ 3-0 win over Rockbridge on Thursday so excellent.

They’re the ones playing.

They’re the ones that blanketed fowards and kept the ball out of the net.

Vicki Andersen was the one with a foot on every goal. Not someone spitting sunflower seeds from a deck chair.

Taylor Sayre was the one that broke the scoreless tie in the second half. Not that guy walking in late and hoping he didn’t miss too much of the game.

It was freshman keeper Kate Garber returning to her net-minding duties after sitting out three weeks thanks to a concussion. A concussion suffered whilst she was playing, you know, doing her best to represent the school and the community with style, dignity and class. Unless you trip over your own two feet, you’re not going to suffer a concussion in the stands. Hey, did you just see Garber swallow Veronica Corea’s shot off the breakaway? Sure you did.

It was junior captain Bree Simonsen giving Waynesboro the insurance goal. The same Simonsen that’s shown flashes of greatness since she burst onto the varsity scene her freshman year. She’s a pretty good cross country runner too.

No doubt the other captains—Courtney Freed, Cammy Nasholds and Kristin Berrang—had a chat with the girls before the match, doing their captainly duties to keep this young squad’s mind on the right matters. Not some foolhardy familia.

So yeah, looks like they all did their jobs.

And if all you did was cheer and support, maybe you finally did yours too.

And another thing: So now the Little Giants are right back in action tonight, at home, against ... ta-da ... Rockbridge again. So how did that happen you ask? Well, something regarding lacrosse (blah, blah, blah), a rescheduled game (yada, yada) and the fact the Southern Valley DoeStink loves living up to its name. Since both games are at Waynesoro, the Wildcats lost a home match and I don’t care what anybody tells you, the only reason this game is at Waynesboro is because it’s soccer.

Do you honestly think any school would allow their baseball, football or basketball team to play one less home game? Not unless Lucifer learns to ice skate.

But hey, what did you expect? This is Group AA, a collection of mid-sized high schools run by administrators that speak the middle finger so eloquently toward their athletes they’re supposed to look out for. Hey, but it’s soccer, one of the sports that doesn’t make them a whole lot of money, so these kids only get to play for one state championship, unlike basketball and football.

Wait, it gets better. So, the DoeStink Track and Field Championships were supposed to hosted by Fort Defiance despite the fact that Waynesboro has far superior (and newer) facilities. Now, the meet is going to be at Waynesboro, but hosted by Fort. Ummm ... what?! The meet is at Waynesboro? Hosted by Fort? Wow ... OK .. stop, put the abacus down. Trust me, that will not help figure this one out.

Seriously, Larry David couldn’t have written this district up any better.

One last thing: Tonight, finally, is what we’ve been waiting for in any sport in the DoeStink—a girls-boys doubleheader. Sure, it’s in soccer when we all hoped it would happen in hoops, but the timing is just right.

You know there’s a group of girls that just proved you wrong last night. Maybe some of the boys and their fans want to watch it happen again.

Good on you, Little Giants. Good on you.