Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Decade of Plottdom


Hadrian just tried out for high school soccer yesterday, and she made the team . . . yay!! The legacy lives on for one more year. This is the tenth year in a row that a Plott has been on the varsity roster at Grayson High School. A decade of Plottdom . . . . or Plott dominance . . . lol. And, just a little history about Grayson . . . 2000-2001 was the first year the school was in operation. So, this is the eleventh season Grayson has been in existence. And, there has been a Plott on the varsity team for every season except the first.

Haley played 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Hannah played 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
Hadrian played 2008, 2009, 2010, and now 2011.

We have played for every coach that has coached at Grayson . . . Stacy Kenyon, Christopher Wilson, and Terry Klinect.

Wow . . . the memories!!

Haley caught the program when it was new. The first couple of years, we played a non-region schedule, and I remember sometimes driving two hours to a game, playing soccer for thirty minutes before it was called for the mercy rule, and then driving two hours back home. Even though Grayson was a new program, it was good from the start. There has been an enormous amount of talent come through Grayson High School.

The year that Haley was a junior and Hannah was a freshman (2004) the team scored 129 goals. And, my friends, that is alot of goals for one soccer season.

Hannah played in the "glory year" that Grayson won its first and only state championship for 5A. Hannah's senior year, 2007, was the most decorated in school history. The 2007 team won 18 games, lost only 2, had a 15-game win streak, and of course won a state championship. Hannah has THE ring. And, I will never forget when her coach stood at the All-County Soccer Banquet and proclaimed that Hannah deserved the honor of being the Gwinnett County Player of the Year. Wow . . . she didn't win the honor, but what an honor it was to be considered!!


Grayson Wins State . . . oh, what an amazing night!!



Hannah and the State Championship Trophy


Hug from the Coach



And, let me say, that Hadrian wants a ring. She feels that last year was the year it got away . . . and she was helpless . . . struggling through games while crying from the pain of her Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome.

Grayson was SO close last year. The team feels strongly that they were one PK away from a state championship. IF Grayson could have gotten past North Gwinnett . . . . Grayson and North Gwinnett met up in the quarter finals, and both teams felt strongly that whoever won this match would ultimately be playing for the state championship. What a battle . . . tied after regulation, tied after two overtime periods, went through a complete round of pk's, and started over with the shooters in the second round of pk's. Nobody had ever witnessed this happening!! But, North Gwinnett won the match . . . Grayson missed on the 11th pk. And, yes, North Gwinnett won the state championship. And, congratulations to them . . . we have alot of great friends on this North team!!

Hadrian wearing her Game Day shirt on her way to the Grayson/North Gwinnett match.



And, Hadrian was SO frustrated because she had to watch this match from the sideline in her wheelchair. She feels strongly that if she could have played in this match - and marked the amazing Danielle Au - that things could have turned out differently. And, I believe her. I felt badly for her. She had just had her surgery for compartment syndrome days before this match, and I know how painful it was for her to sit this one out. The text messages were coming at me from across the field . . . I was getting a play-by-play of her frustrations . . . and how badly she wanted to be out on that field. And, I will never forget that when the teams met out on the field for PK's, Hadrian was there . . . sitting on the field in her wheelchair.

Just the game before, Grayson stunned Harrison in the first playoff game. The Gwinnett Daily Headline was "Rams Stun No. 4 Harrison." It was an amazing win. And, it was amazing because Hadrian got to participate. Coach Klinect allowed Hadrian to enter the field during both halves of this great game . . . and she was allowed to play for as long as her body would let her. She made it about ten minutes of each half. It gave me goose bumps to hear the Grayson fans cheer for her as she entered the match . . . speaking of those great memories!!! : ) She had surgery between the Harrison and the North Gwinnett games.

So many of you followed Hadrian's progress and gave us SO much support!!

http://hadrianscompartmentsyndrome.blogspot.com/

All three of my girls have played for some amazing club and high school coaches, been trained by the best trainers, played with and against the best players in the state, have made the most amazing friendships that anyone could ever ask for, and it is all coming to a close. This is the last year that a Plott will be on the varsity soccer roster. I hope my baby daughter, Hadrian, has an amazing senior season at Grayson High School!!!

And, just an update on my soccer girls:

Haley played at Middle Georgia College after leaving Grayson. After two seasons, she blew out her knee. Her college playing days were over, but she continues to play in various adult leagues (and the knee still swells . . lol). Haley has been a soccer trainer and coach at Central Georgia Soccer Association for the past several years. Haley is now coaching soccer at Veteran's High School in Warner Robins . . . a brand new high school fielding its first soccer team ever. She just returned from a grueling week in Ft. Lauderdale where she was pursuing a National Coaching License . . . results pending.


Haley and her team received medals at the Sugar N Spice Tournament in Nov 2010.

Hannah played at Jacksonville State University after leaving Grayson. After one season, she retired from playing college, but she continues to play in several different adult leagues. She still kicks butt . . . lol. Hannah is a licensed coach and coaches at the Blue Springs Soccer Association in Loganville.



Hannah's team won a BIG (lol) trophy at the Frosty Balls Tournament . . Jan 2011




Hannah has really enjoyed taking her soccer to the mission fields . . . Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Hadrian . . . well . . . is considering several different colleges . . . a major announcement will come as soon as her decision is made!! We are just thrilled that her legs are well enough for playing in college to become a reality!!


PLOTTDOM!! ; )

Monday, January 3, 2011

2010 New Additions

Continuing on with my reflections about the blessings of 2010 . . . there were two wonderful additions to our family.

Most of you know that I gained a new son-in-law . . . I did blog about this . . . Haley got married in March to Austin Walker. Austin is from the Warner Robins area. He graduated from Warner Robins High School, Mercer University in Macon, and he is now an engineer at the Warner Robins Air Force Base. Even though he comes with impressive credentials (ha), the most important one is that he is a great guy who loves my daughter . . . and she loves him . . . and they are a great match!! I am thrilled that he has joined our family!! : )


Austin, Haley, Tommy, and Carly



The second amazing addition to our family in 2010 was Stevie! My nephew, Daniel, got married in April. Most of you know that my sister, Joy, has a daughter and a son. And, with me having three girls, Daniel has been the only boy in the clan . . . and, we have enjoyed him SO much I might add!! ; )

Daniel married Stevie Lynn Kaspriskie . . . someone he has known since middle school. It seems they have been best friends for as long as I can remember! So, Dan truly married his best friend . . . and what a great addition she is to our family!! Stevie is loved by Dan's sister, Sarah, and by my three girls. When a girl gets the stamp of approval from four other girls, that says something . . . ; ) . . . . she is beautiful, smart, sweet, and she is now part of us. We all love her dearly!! She is exactly the person we would have chosen as a wife for Dan. Stevie is a nurse in the cardiac unit at Northside Forsyth . . . hopefully none of us will have the misfortune of visiting her at work . . ; )



Wedding in Antigua!


Austin and Stevie join Adam as the mates of the kids in our family. And, let me say they all three fit in perfectly . . . all 8 (5 kids plus 3 mates) love each other . . . they all can't wait to see each other . . . family time with these incredible kids is always full of joy . . . life doesn't get any better than when our entire family is together . . . what a blessing!!!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

2010

I will always remember 2010 for the coldest, most miserable winter in memory for me. Maybe it was SO long and cold because I was also dealing with a divorce right slap dab in the middle of it. Two very long and cold things coinciding at the same time result in misery. But, in the midst of being miserable, there were some amazing things that happened in 2010!! I have to admit that while it was hard to focus on my blessings, there were definitely blessings!! Looking back through the year, my biggest regret is that I didn't savor these blessings like I should have . . . it seemed as if I somehow just couldn't look nor feel past my own pain and grief. The joy for life just wasn't there . . . my motivation went somewhere . . . life as I knew it had ended . . . and I was floundering . . . desperate to regain my footing . . . and struggling for life to feel normal again.

One of the things that suffered was my blogging. My lack of blogging has not been due to a lack of time . . . it simply has been a lack of heart.

So, as I have reflected on the year, 2010, I am trying to focus on the positive . . . on those wonderful blessings that occurred . . . but I was just too miserable to enjoy. I will be blogging over the next week (or weeks) about the things that should have been fabulous blogging material through the year, but it just didn't happen.

I will start this blessing acknowledgement by first mentioning my parents and my sister . . . I would NOT have survived 2010 without them. Let me repeat, I would not have survived. How can I be so blessed to have continuous, unconditional love in my life? I have a family who has sacrificed in unbelievable ways . . . just to make sure that I have everything I need. I have a family who cries with me, prays over me, supports me, loves me, and has never questioned my worthiness for such things.

Seriously? Wow. You can't get more blessed than this!!