Let the games begin!

It's 20°C outside... and will stay that way for at least a full week. Summer is here!

My 9-year old nephew Jaden amazed me with his Wii playing genius on my rented copy of FIFA World Cup 2010. Watching Jaden play was almost better than a live game because I could direct his play-- the ultimate sideline maestro. I can be ORANJE vicariously. What joy!

I added a FIFA World Cup countdown widget to my Mac's Dashboard. I got a new white board at the office and it's already graced with Nederland's group match dates against Cameroon, Japan & Denmark. I got my soccer boots completely spiffed up by my favorite shoe shine vendor dntn and I've played football at the park the last 3 consecutive Sundays and can't wait until tomorrow.

I'm a wee bit excited for soccer / football this summer.

CLARITY: I prefer to use the word football when referring to soccer. I think "American" football should be called American rugby. But for the sake of simplicity and clarity, I will refer to the real football as soccer.

I'm almost as excited about yet another summer season of flag / touch football. This winter I retired from my football team of the last 4 years-- Orange CRUSH. I came out of retirement because it seems that one of the 8 teams desperately needed some leadership in order to stay afloat. Not wanting the only women's flag / touch football league to take 2 steps back, I decided to step up to QB the Titans. In the spirit of providing bolstering leadership, I'm also trying to pull together a Skills Camp for all 8 teams to attend next week.

The QB coach for the University of Calgary Dinos football team has already come out once. He's tentatively scheduled to come out one more time next Tuesday. Rick Crawford of Sparta FA has agreed to help out and Tim Burris of Iron Will Football will be driving down from Red Deer to chip in. Kent Ridley of Ridley Scouting will come in from Airdrie and former McMaster U Marauder, Tim Bryson, may also lend a hand. Should be a great crew of guys helping women's football learn basic skills that will help players enjoy the game more.

Kickoff is May 25th for football and June 11th for WC football. Let the games begin!