A special thank you ...

So as life returns to crazy normal for me (as opposed to crazy crazy) and I get my thoughts together from the Region I tournament, I wanted to begin with a thank you. Over that faithful week in traversing from Boston to Barboursville and back again I learned more than a few things about myself, some others, and the game.

I want to extend a very special thanks to the entire refereeing and assessing team and administrators of the Massachusetts delegation.

For reasons I will detail in due time, I have just about not looked at a soccer ball for a period of time ... a somewhat long period of time. Some very smart administrators however saw me poke my head out of the sand about just wee much and promptly grabbed me. Kudos to them for recognizing when to strike with me. There was of course the matter of the "rubber meeting the road" however. Getting involved is one thing, being accepted for it can be another.

To say that I was worried about just how far the world has turned since I stepped off my Merry-Go-Round is an understatement that bears recognition to me. I was unaware, and very anxious just how folks were going to react to me returning in this context. Be assured that anxiety remains quite strongly in other contexts to this very day.

Those fears were completely relieved at the airport out to Barboursville. It was so rewarding to have the opportunity to be with such a group of talented individuals, and from the very jump, to be able to interact with them as a peer. I was then, and am now in reflection, humbled and thankful by their generosity, to the last.

So please let this be our entry point into the Region I tournament through my lens ... that of a former referee at this tournament, turned assessor.

Next stop ... when old red shirts turn blue.