This past Saturday gave racing enthusiasts in Aiken, SC several choices. Tops on many lists was the Aiken Trials held at the Aiken Training Track just blocks away from the downtown area. Also-rans included the Augusta Rowing Club's 30th annual Augusta Invitational Regatta (well, maybe an also-paddled,) at Langley Pond , several miles to the west of Aiken just off of US 1 and, Aiken youth soccer's first matches of the season (not exactly a race, but definitely a run,) at Aiken's Odell Weeks park. Guess where grandpa went.
If you guessed the Aiken youth soccer matches, you guessed right. Having no horse in the races at the Aiken Trials, and having no boat in the water at Langley Pond, the choice, for grandpa, was obvious--he did have a grandson in the running at Odell Weeks, son Stash's number two, Dylan. Since the attached slide show can do what no amount of writing might accomplish, please accept our invitation to visit this brief presentation. One suggestion: The first time you view a slide show on Examiner.com, you might want to click past the various ads presented there intramurally, so to speak. Remember any that might interest you, though, and return to those after you've seen all of the awards-winning-to-be photography and, perhaps, some just plain old photos as the case may be.
Grandson did well and, if you looked at the photos, I'm sure you saw him. Your Examiner reporter got to the field just after the game started, and was able to see at least one goal scored. While, at this level, scoring isn't the name of the game, you can always count on the kids to keep up with this, believe me. What is important here is learning to cooperate with both coach and teammates and learning the rules of the game. Both teams were definitely winners.
How is this environmentally relevant, you say? Well, in our society, short of a direct hit by a large asteroid, or an eruption of a large volcano putting us into twilight for the foreseeable future (that's what killed off the dinosaurs according to one theory,) what we ourselves are doing is what is, environmentally and otherwise, most important to us. Call this column "Aiken's sporting environment news," at least for today. And, if Georgia decides to lob a locally developed IED of a nuclear nature at poor 'ole South Carolina, you can bet this reporter will report on that as environmental news, too. Events such as these, whether people generated or cosmically generated, are environmentally relevant to the people around here.
Should Georgia hold off on that IED for a while, and should soccer between Aiken's soccer stars of 2033 be to your liking, check with the City of Aiken on their web site for the full schedule of events. Give the City a few days, though, as we understand their webmaster is still working on it. If it's not there soon, perhaps a note to Parks, Recreation and Tourism, via the City's contact page, would be appropriate.
In the mean time, if you're in the market for another horse race, you just might want to visit Aiken next Saturday. Aiken's Spring Steeplechase, what many consider the social event of the year with 30,000 or more in attendance, will be in full tilt at Conger Field. And the Saturday after that, come out to USC Aiken's Pacers and Polo match-ups for the third and final segment of Aiken's Spring Triple Crown. In either case, wear your springtime best and bring those tailgate feasts to impress all the other celebrants. That's what they'll be doing, you can count on it. And, as always, thanks for visiting Examiner.com.
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