Crunky Ball Nude

I think these photos all speak for themselves.  

All photos thanks to my fab iPhone, which, unlike my digital camera, has survived several near-fatal accidents with grace and determination.

 

drawn by students on the chalkboard outside the nurse's office

Let's just pretend that didn't happen

It's been months.  I know.  In fact, it has been 3 months almost exactly.  But let's just pretend that none of that happened and dive right on into the ALT Soccer Tournament on the island of Awaji, November 2010.

Only a week ago I was riding in a car with Yoko, Marc, and Creighton on our way home from a gorgeous weekend at the soccer tournament in Awaji.  As sore as we were when we got into the car, attempting to get out of the car for dinner at a rest stop was a significantly slower and more agonizing process than we had imagined.  Bracing myself on the car door in order to hoist myself out of the backseat, I had an awkward and painful preview of what old age might be like.  But sore muscles and bruises make you feel like you have accomplished something.  And what we accomplished was our best tournament to date, with the women taking 3rd and the men playing the best they ever have.

Perhaps you will recall this summer's tournament in Nagano where the women also took 3rd under the guidance of the phenomenal sisters, Stacy and Shaun.  Going into Awaji we were more than a little concerned about our missing sister safety net, but thanks to teamwork, sheer determination, and Coach Damo patiently explaining how to play the game (did you know that it's live play after a penalty kick?  well, we didn't), we pulled it together and took a satisfying third place.  And I think our men, having finally been able to play hard in a tournament of like-minded (re: serious about soccer and fun as opposed to some of the Nagano teams who were simply serious about being jerks) teams, had a great time and played better than ever.  We will definitely be heading back to Awaji come spring time.

All of the photos were stolen from Bill's facebook album of the tournament.  I would have taken my own except that 1) did I mention my camera broke in an unfortunate bike accident in Hokkaido in August?  and 2) it's hard to take photos while you are trying to defend a goal, and 3) Bill's photos are fabulous.

You can see two clips of our women's team at around 1:46 of this video from the tournament website.  Also, the human tunnel featured in the video is an Ishikawa FC tradition, win or lose.