I am becoming a prude...

Yep, I said it. I think that it is true. The older I get the more I am offended with things. For instance, I am coaching a high school girls soccer team. They are fun and keep me young, but not from becoming a prude. They do exactly what I did when I was in high school... they act like they are in high school. Some recent examples of my prudish behavior have become apparent...

1. The songs that are played in our warm-up tape before our games should not have curse words in them. To be fair, it was not our warm-up tape that we were listening to the other day, but all the same I caught myself saying, "Did that song just say the B-word." The funniest part is that I occasionally curse myself. I know, I know that I really should not, but I am known to let one slip every now and then. I just don't think that having it played loudly over a loud speaker where there are high school (I am aware that they are not babies, but...) students, and younger siblings running around is really all that appropriate.

2. High school girls should not practice in their sports bras. Period. This concept, we will call it, of mine has not gone over all that well with my high school girls. For those of you that do not live in Knoxville, let me just tell you that in the summer I gets hot around here (read that as it gets to be over 90 degrees on a regular basis and it is always humid) and on a soccer field there is no shade. Now I understand that other schools may allow this behavior to happen, but under my watchful eye they will not be removing their shirts to practice soccer. You don't get to play in just a sports bra do you? Nope, I do think so. Plus you are not an adult so therefore I get to tell you what you can and cannot do while your parents entrust you into my care. (Those are some of my responses, and I am not backing down from them.) Mostly I just want these girls to respect themselves. I want them to value their bodies and their hearts. I hope that as I coach these girls that they will learn that I am here to help them grow into healthy, strong, independent young women. So on this issue, I am sorry but I will not back down and they will always be fully clothed at my practices.

3. Girls should dress appropriately at all times. I really hope that you don't read this as me being judgmental, but I know that it might come off this way. I just think that girls today are trying to dress like they are older than they are. They tend to wear shorts, skirts and dresses that are too short and shirts that are too tight. I know that I am not a parent, but I know that some of the items that I have seen some girls in lately will not be a part of my future daughters closet. As in point number 2 I think that girls should just dress more modestly. I have seen girls walk into church in tight and short jean skirts ( read barely covering their bottoms) and sit with their parents. When I was their age I had to wear a dress that came past my knees and with lace fringed socks. Now I am all of everyone coming to church just how they are and I am glad that they are there and I really don't want this to come off and a huge judgement at all, but I just want girls to dress like the YOUNG girls that they are. They will have plenty of time to be grown ups and do whatever they want. I just think that their parents should be keeping them young and protecting their innocence as long as they can. It is just scary to see middle school girls in belly shirts...

So those are some examples of my prudeness (not sure if this is a word)... and I am kind of proud of it. Scary I know. Part of the reason that I wanted to coach (can I just say that none of the above examples are of MY high school girls. They have all come from other sources that shall remain nameless and not just because I don't know the names of any of the people mentioned.) was because I wanted to make an impact. I know that I fail everyday at showing the girls who I want them to be and those failures are as a result of me being human. I just hope that they walk away from their time with me and realize that I care about each one individually and I want them to be better people when they leave. I want to impact their lives and try to teach them along the way from experiences that I have had both positive and negative. We will see if it happens...