Soccer Mom

For several moments every week, the only thing in my line of vision is my cleat-covered foot, my breath and the starry night sky. As a child who did anything to avoid sports, especially organized team sports, the irony of these moments is not lost on me. Every Tuesday night, I force my tired, exhausted and over-wrought body out of the house at 8 p.m. and trudge over to Holden's elementary school, where a new, fake-turfed soccer field beckons to me and dozens of other women.

This whole thing began with an email last fall from a fellow "mom" and a soccer player who was tired of seeing all these women sitting along the sidelines while their kids reaped the benefits of soccer. Expecting maybe 20 or so women, she got about 70 - and the numbers keep growing. Off the Sidelines, as it's called, is affiliated with Holden's AYSO region and gives women of all experience levels a chance to learn and play soccer.

I have never, ever played soccer in my life and felt lucky that I could even recognize the black and white spotted ball as the correct one for the game. But in the last six months or so, I've learned the rules of the game, some strategies and how to head, chest, knee and kick a ball into the general direction I wish it to go.

It hasn't been easy. But, by far, the hardest part is forcing myself out of the house into the cold when all I really want to do is curl up in my jammies in front of the TV and enjoy the couple child and work-free hours of day I have. Once I'm out on the field under the lights, though, I'm thrilled to be there.

For an hour and a half I don't have to think about anything but soccer. From our warm-up runs and stretches to the drills to the scrimmages, the only thing on my mind is my feet, the ball and the goal. I don't wear a watch and am always surprised to hear the 15-minute warning has come so quick. Nose running and cheeks burning rosy, I charge forward repeating my mantra to myself: "Go! Go! Go!" No thoughts of kids who hit or deadlines - just me, the night and the sport.

Besides the obvious health benefits of regular exercise and the opportunity to learn something new, there's something else I think of while lying on my back on the damp "grass" and stretching my calf with my foot up in the air: I look around, and see all these other women doing the same thing. Most all of them are mothers who live in our neighborhood with kids who go to the same schools mine do or will go to. We're so close to home I can see the field lights from Holden's window and, as I run down the sideline dribbling the ball, I can look up and see Riley's pre-school classroom. It's the first time since my childhood that I feel a real sense of "community."

This feeling comes not only from these weekly scamperings, but also from being a part of the local school - where I'm involved on the advisory board at the Child Development Center (Holden's afterschool care and Riley's pre-school), take part in PTA activities and Kevin and I both regularly volunteer in all the kids' classrooms. In the past year, Kevin has taken photos for Riley and Holden's classes and attended the big 100 Day Celebration at kindergarten, while I've talked about Hannukkah and Passover in Holden's classes and accompanied Riley's class to the pumpkin patch for Halloween.

Through each of these activities, we've got to know our kids' friends and are slowly learning who their parents are. Along with birthday parties, T-Ball and regular school drop-offs and pick-ups, we're finally placing faces with names, and vice versa.

In addition, we have 26 new neighbors in our new townhome complex who we are getting to know. Most have young children (younger than Holden and Riley), but I imagine when all these babies start riding their bikes, Holden and Riley will be leading the charge along the driveways. Hopefully, this will be while their parents and us sip margaritas on the patio! But HOA meetings and other celebrations have given us a chance to meet and interact with our neighbors in a way we never have before and, as we set down roots in this new community, we are hopeful we'll intertwine and grow with everyone else's.

This may all seem cliche what with the middle age women seeking athletic outlets, the soccer mom tendencies and the PTA meetings ... but we're learning that there is a reason people take part in their communities. It's grounding. It's nice to belong. And we hope that, as the kids grow, they really get a sense of what it's like to be a good neighbor, friend and, of course, athlete.

Foul Ball

We don't always have good judgment and we don't always follow our gut feelings. We always regret that later. That being said, a recent outing to the Dodgers game wasn't a TOTAL bust, but it could've been better if we had just listened to ourselves.

It was Little League Day and Holden was invited to march on the field before the game with his team and the other players. We debated whether or not to do this since it required getting to the stadium nearly two hours before the first pitch. But figured if we didn't, and he found out about it from his teammates, there'd be hell to pay. As all things are with organized youth sports, the event was woefully unorganized. Holden separated from us, and his coach didn't ask for a ticket, meaning one of us had to wait for him. Because I had a sleepy, warm and noise-weary Riley around my neck, I finally bailed from the fence in the outfield to go to our seats, leaving Kevin to cheer Holden on and take lots of pictures.

Except, just before the parade, they shoo'd all the parents away. So while I was watching from our nosebleed seats the little orange dot with the blue No. 8 that was Holden, Kevin and the other parents who were waiting for the kids didn't see them march at all. Brilliant.

Before we got to our seats, Riley heard ... a noise. As he had at the air show and NASCAR races last year, he spent the next several hours with his hands over his ears. He doesn't get the irony that he's the loudest thing around, and to be scared of the announcer on the loud speaker ofrthe cheer of the crowd is silly.

We didn't expect to make it through the game. It was warm, it was during Riley's nap time and we were all a little testy. Despite that, though, I think Kevin, Holden and I had a good time watching some of the game. And the kids ate chocolate malts, which was a highlight for them. Holden tried a half a peanut, so there was a little victory there for me.


We ended up leaving during the 7th Inning Stretch after a round of Take Me Out to the Ballgame. On the radio on the way home, we heard Manny Ramirez was added to the line-up and listened as he hit a homerun in the 8th inning. Of course.

Distinguished? If They Only Knew!

Sometimes, you're going about your business thinking, "Hey, this is cool. I did a pretty good job there!" But, you think no one but you really notices. I'm here to tell you that, occasionally, they do!

I've never been the kind of person to win awards or get recognized for excellence of any kind. In fact, I've prided myself in a living a life of mediocrity and flying below the radar! So it was with great surprise and honor that I learned that the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists had selected me as the 2009 Distinguished Journalist of the Year.

On Tuesday, April 27, my colleagues, family and I attended the awards banquet. Here are a few pictures from the evening. What follows is a copy of the article the Daily Breeze ran upon the announcement of the award.

I selected Assistant City Editor Josh Grossberg to introduce me. He did a great job with a heartfelt and warm speech:

The organizers of the event made a point to REPEATEDLY tell the honorees, "No speeches." Apparently, journalists don't like to be told to shut up. The honorees who received their awards before me launched into several minutes of platitudes each. I kept it short with a few "thank yous."
The keynote speaker for the night was Roxana Saberi, a journalist who wrote a book about her experience of being imprisoned in Iran. She was lovely, spirited and interesting. My sister bought me a copy of her book and had it signed, and I can't wait to read it,:



Daily Breeze reporter Nix honored with Distinguished Journalist Award
By Larry Altman Staff Writer
Posted: 02/03/2010 02:28:06 PM PST

The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has honored Daily Breeze staff writer Denise Nix with a Distinguished Journalist Award.

Nix is the 2009 honoree for newspapers with less than 100,000 circulation. The award established in 1976 honors print, broadcast and now online journalists who "demonstrate good news judgment, a strong sense of ethics and a passion for getting the story right."

Honorees are journalists who have amassed a strong body of work for several years.

"At a time when newspapers are shrinking and journalists are constantly being challenged to protect the integrity and purpose of the profession, it's nice that the hard work and local reporting that I and my colleagues at the Daily Breeze do everyday is appreciated," Nix said.

"I'd like to thank the SPJ board for this honor and my colleagues, past and present, for their support and encouragement over the years."

During her 15-year career, Nix has worked at the Los Angeles Daily Journal, The Associated Press and Daily Breeze, primarily covering the law, both civil and criminal. She has worked as the Daily Breeze's court reporter since 2001.

Nix also contributes to the Daily Breeze's Crime & Courts blog and maintains an online court tracker.

"The kinds of stories Denise writes help bring closure," Daily Breeze Editor Toni Sciacqua said.

"When we write about a crime, we usually know what happened, but sometimes we don't know how or why.

"That's the kind of detail that comes out in a courtroom. Denise puts it all together for us. Sometimes she has to track a story for years, from the arrest to the final verdict, to get the whole picture."

A graduate of California State University, San Francisco, Nix lives in the South Bay with her husband, Kevin, and two sons.

The other honorees are KCBS/KCAL reporter Dave Lopez for television; KNX reporter Claudia Peschiutta for radio; Los Angeles Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein for print journalism with a circulation more than 100,000; and WitnessLA.com editor Celeste Fremon for new media.
An award dinner will be held in April.

Previous Daily Breeze employees honored with the Distinguished Journalist Award are columnist John Bogert in 1997, former Managing Editor Jean Adelsman in 2001, and reporter Larry Altman in 2006. Former Copley News Service correspondent David Zahniser won in 2005.