I would like a career change. I want to be a kid again. This work

stuff is not all that it is cracked up to be. On the other hand, writing about

youth athletics is certainly more fun than a root canal or talking to lawyers.

For my money, I will take a root canal. Baseball season is slogging along.

The soggy weather has tested everyone’s patience. I can’t remember being

uncomfortably warm this year. Somehow I think you need a little dust to

enjoy baseball.

I was interested to read about an unassisted triple play in the

major leagues. That rarest of rare events has only happened about 10 times in

the history of major league baseball. I can count my family among the

fortunate few to have witnessed an unassisted triple play. My nephew was

playing coach-pitch baseball when it happened. He was standing on third

base, bases loaded when the ball was struck and he caught the line drive. The

batter and the runner that left the base at third were out and the runner

from second blindly ran into my nephew who was standing there with the

ball in his glove. Boom, third out. At the time, everyone thought it was just

another oddity of Little League Baseball. My dad was the first to realize that

he had seen an unassisted triple play. Weird things happen in baseball.

On the soccer front, the final push to put teams together is about

over. Here in Snoqualmie we have a host of new teams starting out this fall. I

am excited to see that the future of soccer in Snoqualmie is in good shape.

There is big news on the horizon. On July 8, at 1 p.m., the

Women’s Sounder Select Team will be playing in our own backyard at Mount Si High.

The event is being sponsored by the Seattle Sounders and the Mount

Si Soccer Boosters Club.

For those of you that want to see good soccer and the future of

women’s professional soccer, I suggest that you find tickets. The ticket deal is

great. For every $5 donation you also get a free ticket to a Seattle Sounders

game. Going to the game is especially important for young players because

it gives them an opportunity to see soccer at a relatively high level of

competition where physical play is to be expected.

Several local teams will also be playing in pre-game competitions

and special games at halftime will feature our youngest stars. This should be

a great event for our soccer community. I am excited because my Boy’s

U-12 Cascade Select Team is likely on the menu for pre-game competition.

Lots of sports are coming up this summer, so stay tuned. All we need

is a break in the weather. I can’t imagine spending the entire summer

indoors. With weather like this, year-round school is starting to sound good.

Michael Lloyd is a local sports enthusiast and board

member of both the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Soccer Association and the

Sno-Valley Little League.