I was standing on the sidelines while the Clark Bees got set to play their last soccer game of the year. The Clark team had racked up sixteen wins without a loss. They had just one game left to play. They were getting set to play the Dickens Chargers.

The Clark team has two team leaders this year who happen to be twin sisters. Their names are Les and Pat Pinker. As I stood on the sidelines, I spoke with the twins’ dad, Ted Pinker. He was holding the Pinkers’ dog, Princess, on a leash.
“Which one is Les?” I asked.
“That one,” said Ted Pinker, pointing.

‘Ted Pinker explained that Les plays wing. Her job is to take shots on the goal. Les is a fast runner. She is good at passing the ball, too.

Les came to the sidelines to visit with us. We shook hands. I asked her, “Let’s say you could offer just one tip to kids who would like to be better at soccer. What would you tell them?”

Les said, “I think I would tell them to get good at passing. If a team can't pass well, it will never get good shots on goal. You have to get so good at passing that you do not have to think what your feet are doing. Your feet just sort of think for themselves.”

Les petted Princess and ran off. I went to chat with her twin sister, Pat. Pat is the goalkeeper for the team. It’s her job to stop shots and keep players from scoring on the Clark goal.

When we spotted her, Pat was slipping on mitts, She explained, “Without these mitts, my hands would get red. I would get blisters. Plus, the mitts help me get a grip on the ball.
“What's the best tip for stopping a shot?” I asked,
“Well,” Pat said, “You need to have soft hands,”

“Soft hands?” I said. “You mean you have to use a lot of hand cream?”

Pat grinned. “No, what I mean is that your hands need to bend back when the ball hits them. They need to bend so they can take the shock. If they don’t bend, the ball will bounce off your hands and then you will have to get set to stop the next shot. It’s better to catch the ball if you can, or knock it out of bounds.”

Just then a buzzer we off. It was time for the big game.