The Tiny Titan

For years my son has loved sports - any kind of sports. He has played football, baseball and lacrosse and is also interested in soccer. We have concentrated on his love of sports for so long we forgot that our daughter might be interested too.

This year she expressed an interest in playing lacrosse. This made me happy since she chose not to joing cheerleading this year, a decision I wholly approve of. Previously she took karate lessons, but when she progressed and she was smallest of the students in her class, I felt too protective and pulled her out. She had been surrounded by students of all ages including adults. She was disappointed, but she quickly adjusted to the change.

We signed her up for lacrosse this spring. I wasn't sure if she would really end up liking it. It was her first team sport and I was afraid she would feel overwhelmed. I should have known better. That girl isn't afraid of anything.

At her first formal game the coach put her in for the face-off. All the parents were thinking the same thing: Why in the world would they put one of the smallest girls into the middle of the action? I wasn't able to be at this first game but my husband told me she won the face-off easily. She was just lucky, I thought. At least she might gain some confidence.

At her second game the coach again put her in for the face-off. I was ready to comfort her when she failed at her task.

No problem.

She won the face-off and ran down the field with the ball. She passed it, but the other player didn't catch it. I was stunned. She didn't think anything of fighting for possession. Unfortunately, the game was called soon after because of a thunderstorm.

Yesterday was her next game. I wasn't able to get there on time so our friends took her. I arrived several minutes into the game. My daughter wasn't on the field and I couldn't see her standing on the sidelines. I got a bit worried but I was sure she was OK and I watched the game.

Our team was doing well. The goalie blocked two of the passes when another thunderstorm started.

I still didn't see my daughter and started to panic. Everyone was walking quickly to the safety of the school building. I was so confused and scared. I looked down to see a small player standing in front of me covered in pads and a huge helmet. It was quite strange since I didn't know why this child was not with her parents. I bent down to see what the problem was. I saw blond curls escaping from underneath her helmet. Two brown eyes stared at me. I looked again and realized it was my daughter underneath that huge goalie uniform. She looked like the Michelin man only in miniature.

After I recovered, I told her how proud of her I was that she blocked the passes.

"How did you get to be the goalie?" I asked her.

"The coach asked who wanted to do it", she answered, "so I told him I would."

Like I said before, that girl isn't afraid of anything.

I walked towards the building, my little girl waddling beside me. When we got to the protection of the school overhang, the coach helped her take off all of the padding. He pulled her helmet off and there was those sparkling brown eyes and golden curls.

"Good job!" he said. The parents around us congratulated her too. "Since you did such a good job, here's a T-shirt just for you!"

Our daughter thanked him nicely and we went on our way. I was speechless but she thought nothing of it.

How could this child belong to a mother who was an introvert and was never really interested in sports? I guess she takes after my husband. He's an extrovert who has never shied away from a challenge. Thank goodness she takes after him.

Although she can be a challenge sometimes, I'm sure that when she grows up she'll have the confidence to succeed in life as well.