No remorse.

Skibbie plays soccer and she is pretty good at it.  She is a defender.  Sometimes she plays midfield because she is fast and can run a really long time.  But mostly she plays center or left defender. 

She might be a little aggressive also.

On Sunday, her team played a notoriously physically aggressive team from Austin.  They trip.  They push in the back with two hands.  They hold jersyes.  They elbow. 

With Good Referees, most very physical plays would be considered fouls.  Notice I said Good Referees. 

We had Bad Referees.

Skibbie was being held.  She doesn't like to be held.

She was already upset at the non-calls for clear fouls.  She was upset that her trainer was sad because he had to put down his dog that morning.  She was just angry, and she had enough of all of it.

On a particularly bad play, an opposing forward, who didn't have the ball, was holding her and keeping her from defending the ball.  Skibbie threw the girl to the ground in order to get out of her grip.  Of course the Bad Referee didn't see the hold, but certainly saw the take down. 

Skibbie was yellow-carded. 

The parents from the opposing team were yelling for a red card, which is the equivalent of an ejection from the game and she wouldn't be allowed to play the next game.  Luckily, the Bad Referee turned to the opposing parents and told them to stop yelling at the 13-year-old they didn't know.  I sat there with my mouth shut.  Skibbie can fight her own battles.

Like I said, she's a defender.  Her motto is:  I don't start it, but I will gladly finish it.

After we got home from the game, Skibbie told me she wrote a note to her trainer and asked if we could bake some cookies for him. 

While she was at school yesterday, I baked four dozen chocolate chip cookies and put them in a gift bag.   She took them to practice last night.  When Skibbie handed the bag to her trainer, he was surprised.  The conversation that followed went something like this:

Trainer (in his British Highlands accent):  "What's this?  It's not me birthday."

Skibbie:  "It's cookies and a note."

Trainer:  "Is this to say sorry for costing the team a yellow card?"

Skibbie (astonished):  "No! That girl deserved it.  I brought cookies because I feel bad that your dog died."

Trainer:  "Oh."

She is tender-hearted, but justice rules.  She might grow up to be a lawyer.  A defense attorney.....but only if you're innocent.