By my recollection it was the first organized game of soccer I'd played in since 1997. Between now and then I played in one other game with no ref, shoes for goal posts, and about 20 people on the rock strewn field for each team. Even that was almost six years ago.
To say I was out of practice and out of shape going into tonight's game would be generous, but I held my own, didn't embarrass myself, and actually played a part in setting up the game-tying goal.
I'm playing as a spare in a 7-on-7 league where we use shortened fields (thank goodness) and no offsides. I have extremely limited ball skills, I can't steal the ball from a three-year-old and I have no idea how to head the ball. Fortunately I still have good speed (in very, very short bursts) and the opposition doesn't know that I have almost no ability to do anything with the ball if someone happens to get it to me. So I'm a good decoy. I can also stick with a streaking striker and prevent him from being open.
That's what I do now and that's what I did back in the mid-90's before I got kicked off my college rec league team for being bad for team chemistry. That's right- kicked off. The coach called it being cut, but who makes cuts a month into the season, right Gordon? One day I was on the team and the next the coach emailed all of us and said that "in the interest of team chemistry" he was cutting three of us. None of us were any good, but we tried hard. I guess they figured we were taking time away form the "stars" of the team that went winless in league play. And by winless I mean they routinely lost by half a dozen goals. Good thing they got rid of us scrubs though, or who knows what would have happened.
Now? Now I'm tired, sore, my lungs are still burning a bit, my ankle got stepped on, and I have turf burn on my knee. I feel awesome, and I can't wait to do it again next week. New cleats, new shin pads, new socks, and soccer under the lights on a top-notch field. I didn't realize how much I missed it.
