The junior midfielder connected on her 40th goal of the season, and Byron-Bergen took the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class C championship with a 1-nil victory over Stillwater (II), Sunday afternoon on Grady Field on the campus of SUNY Cortland...
pickinsplinters.com
Reading this story is putting a smile on my face.
A decade ago or so, Mia played up with her sister on my youngest kid's rec soccer team where I was the head coach. At 5 or 6yo, she was ultra competitive. And that gave me one of the more memorable stories from my years of coaching soccer and hockey.
Mia took a ball to the stomach and went down. The ref stopped the game and I went out to check on her. I figured it was just that she got the wind knocked out of her. That seemed to be the case and we walked off the field.
Then I see her mom get up and start walking around the field to check on her. When she gets to Mia, this little girl looks at her mom with a fierce look on her face and says, "Mom, I'm fine. Go back and sit with dad."
Gina then tucks tail and walks back to her chair next to her husband. And after the game, Mia's dad Chris comes up to me and says, "I told Gina to let coach handle it. But, she didn't listen to me..."
That memory will never cease to crack me up.
I am just glad that her love for the game is as strong now as it was then.
)
