The heat was still sweltering at 6:30 Thursday night, but it didn’t keep the Soccer Freaks and GJM Insurance from hitting the field for a rousing game of co-ed adult soccer.
“We’re soccer lovers who love to come out and have a good time,” said Rosean Shortt, who prefers the title organizer over coach or captain of the Soccer Freaks.
“I love playing,” said Greg Morris, who led the opposition, and is one of the 15-year-old team’s original members. “It’s definitely good exercise. I love the competitiveness. It’s definitely fun.”
Both teams play in all three Sumner-Bonney Lake Parks and Recreation soccer seasons. The players, who hail from the Plateau area, range in age from 18 to 47, at least 50 percent of the players on the field during a game have to be female. Most of the 15 to 20 athletes on a roster played high school or club soccer, a number, like Morris, played in college.
Thursday was the kickoff for the six-game summer season, which according to Parks and Recreation manager Becky Giles, is the smallest. Giles calls them the “diehards,” about six teams this summer, but fall brings between 16 and 20 teams.
“We really get big numbers,” Giles said. “People come out from all over.”
Shortt, whose husband and kids also play, said the once-a-week games provide players with exercise and an opportunity to spend time with friends.
“I know at least one or two players that play on each team,” said Morris, who met his wife Heidi while playing. Pregnant with the next generation of players, she was on the sidelines Thursday.
The two 45-minute halves provide plenty of exercise, and scoring opportunities, the Soccer Freaks won Thursday’s opener at Bonney Lake High 3-1.
“The first game of the season is always kind of tough,” Morris said. He said his team was playing shorthanded, but he was confident they’d make the postseason.
