Brad Becker serving as goalie for the North team moves on the ball along with Matt Goss during their annual North vs. South soccer match on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a time of traditions of course but for an intergenerational group of people in West Seattle it means gathering at Lincoln Park for a North vs. South soccer match.
Approximately 50 people, including mothers, fathers, sons and daughters have been coming to the park every year for over a decade to enjoy each other's company and play a spirited soccer match.
Jamie Stubner, the official commissioner of fun for the match said, "I started coaching soccer a long time ago with my little girls. We started every Thanksgiving having a soccer game down here at Lincoln Park...We have rain, sometimes it's good weather. When it's rain we have a better game because no one can stand up."
Click the image to see more in a short slideshow
The game is between people living north and south of Lincoln Park. They don't keep score,
"We work really hard to even the teams out so it always ends in a draw. We don't want anyone going home unhappy on Thanksgiving," said Stubner. "Initially the grown ups had to stay 30 to 30, they couldn't score, "said player Pete Vial," but now it's the kids that have to stay 30 to 30 because they kick our butts. Everybody looks forward to it. There's a training session at the Beveridge Place, Wednesday night and we start here 8:30 Thanksgiving morning."
This wasn't the only game going on at the park of course. Every field was full of players playing either touch or flag football, likely using muscles they will find in the next few days they did not know they had.