On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 15:10:31 -0800, Terry Pulliam Burd
> replied:
> On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:43:13 -0800, The Ranger > rummaged among random neurons and opined:
> > That's Beta! "I wanna play baseball, basketball, softball, football,
> > and soccer! And against the boyz..." She's good at them all, too!
> > Usually first-picked. It's great when a recessive gene takes control
> > in a positive fashion. (Now if only that Valedictorian Gene would
> > choose to surface...)
> >
> Good for her! When my daughter was about 8, they started a
> soccer league in the town, but didn't have enough girls to have
> a girls' league, so it was "mixed." "Mixed," in that the girls teams
> played the boys teams and at this age, girls are more agile and
> quicker than boys. The first time they played a boys' team
> (coached by a good friend who was originally from Scotland),
> the boys were shocked at how aggressive the girls were. One
> of the boys limped off to the sidelines and said, "Coach!
> Those girls are *kicking* us!" (in order to steal the ball). Coach
> looked at the kid and said, "Oh, you poor wee thing. You'll
> just have to run faster, then, won't you, laddie?"

When we played mixed (boy-v-girl teams) one season, my U[nder]8Gs
were wild, aggressive, spiteful little pixies! The U10Gs flipped;
they were universally the most POLITE tea party socialites I've
ever coached. They'd BUMP another player (boy or girl) and bow
away from the ball, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There! It's yours!
No, no. Please... Just take it." (The boys, not caring about
manners on or off the field, did just that... <sigh>) My U12G have
discovered the value of having boys chase them... (And they've all
designed self-marketing plans through swearing in front of those
same boys.)

>Encourage 'em now and they'll be the healthier for it, IMHO.

It's why I coach and teach and ask college and professional
examples to show what happens when you live your dreams... <G>

The Ranger