“With a little bit of luck, with a little bit of luck, some other bloke

will do the bloomin’ work.”

Eliza Dolittle’s father got it right. If you can somehow manage to

avoid volunteering, someone else will do the job. Fortunately, there are a lot of

volunteers in this community to pick up the slack. I am talking soccer

of course, but the same applies for baseball, football, PTSA, and a long list

of volunteer opportunities.

Mostly I am pleased with the number of moms and dads that decided

to give their time coaching soccer this fall. The gravitational pull of the

soccer black hole not only eats up matter, but especially chews on that

ever-so-elusive concept of “free time.”

Free time is an oxymoron, if ever there was one. An oxymoron, by the way,

was the guy that sat behind you in algebra class breathing hard.

So with all this free time, I have to admit that I am pleased so many

returning coaches and first-timers signed on the dotted line. I know

coaching clinics are lost weekends, and the number of phone calls seems

incredible, but the whole thing somehow works. The games will be played.

Kids will have fun. Lessons of life will be learned. A few precious

memories will be recorded. If we are lucky, one good example will make the

difference in a life. Chances are as a coach that you will never know when that

moment happened until about 25 years later when someone calls you

“coach” in the checkout line at Target.

Mostly, the benefits are intangible.

Soccer registration is nearly finished. Here in Snoqualmie,

we doubled the number of signups over last year. I think that is pretty cool.

Don Fish and his “sandwich boards of fame” were a big help. I also

have to believe that Mrs. “Soccer”

Sackett at Snoqualmie Elementary surely started something significant. We

still have room for more soccer players in the Snoqualmie Valley Youth

Soccer Association. I especially would like to get more third-, fourth- and

fifth-graders playing soccer. My next soapbox will cover the middle and

high schoolers. Not counting the corner smokers, we could probably still

field a zillion teams.

I can report that new soccer fields at Snoqualmie Ridge and

Snoqualmie Middle School are coming along nicely. I have to let out a big

smile when I see the grass growing. Athletic fields are an expensive

investment in a dot-com economy where open land is as endangered as sockeye.

The school district is looking at how it can do a better job with athletic fields

and youth athletics. Personally, I would like to see an all-weather sports

complex here in the Valley. Yup, that’s bucks spelled with an “M” for

mega. We do need to prepare for the future. The cost of land will never be

cheaper. “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” Coach Wooden said.

Michael Lloyd is a local sports enthusiast and board

member of both the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Soccer Association and the

Sno-Valley Little League.