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Keeping tradition even from a distance
An Atlanta youth soccer team has found a creative way to keep with tradition even in the time of COVID-19.
BROOKHAVEN, Ga. - Team spirit in the face of coronavirus keeps a local soccer club’s birthday tradition going. Parents figured out how to get the girls together from a distance, of course.
You see, if it’s your birthday, you get in the goal and let your teammates take their best shot.
Concorde Fire’s coach Adam Halladay demands team bonding over winning at this age, but they’ve managed to do both. Plenty of pool parties and playdates, but they’ve also been on a winning streak collecting hardware along the way.
Over the holiday break, they practiced on their own…together. They celebrated their most recent win together with their first team TikTok video. Then the season came to a grinding halt.
No practice. Empty fields. And #8, Sophia Hamilton, had to cancel her 11th birthday party. And that was a big deal, her mother Alisa told Fox 5.
“I wanted to find a way to make her day special. I remembered that morning at soccer practice they do this thing called birthday butt.”
Yep, your teammates get to take their best shot right at your bum. It’s a tradition worth preserving in this untraditional time.
“Obviously, safety was the most important thing for both the kids and the parents,” Alisa told us. “So I sent out a team email of protocol about how we would maintain social distancing.”
And the surprise was on.
“My parents were, like, you’re going to everybody’s house,” the birthday girl said.
There were near misses, and rocket shots.
“I thought that was going to hit me,” said a relieved Sophia after a ball whizzed by her ear.
Always in the background was mom. “Six feet monkeys!”
Determined faces considered just how much birthday love to send. There were a few hits to the lower leg, and some trash talk.
“Sophia, your butt is going to be red,” the center back told her.
Mapped out – house to house - it was a 100-mile birthday ride to bend over so your best pals could take their best shot on your big day.
“I’m gonna make it,” the team jokester yelled.
Dad Luke laughed, “We will see how it goes. The over-under is three.”
But some shots on the bottom were dreaded more than others.
“Nice knowing ya. This isn’t going to go well if she puts it on target,” Sophia said reluctantly bending over.
Luckily the strongest, tallest girl on the team missed by only inches. But she walked off with a warning, “Yeah, I’ll hit it harder next year.”
But the icing on this Lysol-sprayed birthday celebration – where gifts came from an outstretched fireplace poker – was another surprise.
The most direct shot came from the goalie. Bullseye! What a day.
Bu this is what good teams do, even at a distance, hold each other up. Concorde Fire can count this as another win.