THE reason I love this game

So, a lot of posts have been around my playing, trial and tribulations, observations, musings, ramblings et al...  But this story - and I hope you find it interesting and inspiring - because it truly brings the essence of this game to you in a way that I truly believe transcends the game.

And so we begin...

My son and I play pick up soccer together whenever the team dynamic is one where the adults are not so caught up on the competitive aspect to allow children to play as well.  On this particular morning we went to play with a family friendly group at our local pitch on a misty Sunday morning.  As luck would have it, the pitch was "closed for maintenance" so we were just kicking the ball around.  There was also a hispanic pick up group that played regularly on this pitch so some of the people showed up and saw the same dilema.  The guy who came out didn't speak much english but we were able to converse enough to determine that there was another game going on at a nearby pitch and I asked if we could join that game.  He said he didn't run the game but we could follow them to the other pitch.  As we were driving to the game it began to rain (not hard, but steady).

We arrived at the other location and we were the only non-hispanic players at the game.  So, out of 22 players, 20 we were the only 2 non-hispanic players (for anyone who needed help with the math).  It was a little weird walking onto the pitch to warm up but nothing uncomfortable.  We kicked around and one of the kids even commented to my son that he "liked his cool cleats" before we started playing.  We started playing (with my son and I playing on the same team) and it was no issue that we were non-hispanic.  The game was close and the side we were playing against had an awesome keeper.  The game was close and I believe the score was 3-1 against our side when one of the players passed a long pass to my son and he was able to score a goal.  The player that passed it to him grabbed him around the shoulder and told him it was "not just a goal but a GOALISSIMO!!" and everyone (from our side cheered and laughed).  Later in the game I was fortunate enough to run in on a crossing pass and score as well to tie the game.  At this point it was raining harder and everyone was soaked.  Shortly thereafter the rain became too much and we called the game.  Everyone was smiling and shaking hands as we left.  In that moment, as we were leaving, my son was smiling ear to ear jogging to the car. I've never felt so happy to have been a part of something that was not scripted or planned but one of the best experiences I've ever had playing this game.  Regardless of your background, origin, age or gender this game unites people in ways that you can't imagine.

In conclusion, I can only say, "IF YOU PLAY, YOU KNOW!"

A new season

My son recently started his 2nd year of club ball.  He is definitely improving and has a much better attitude so far this year.  He has matured and is gaining more confidence.  He's still not certain about what offensive position he feels most comfortable but is going to decide as this season progresses.  I've had challenges with not being involved from the sidelines when he is in a game but have committed to him and his coach that I will respect them both on the pitch.  I just wanted to help him out when he was out of position or not pressing to the best of his abilities.  So far this season, so good.  They have a scrimmage coming up next week so that'll be the true test of where he's heading...

In other news, he's been playing a fair amount of pick up with me and that is definitely fun.  Other guys give me grief for "pushing" him off the ball but I am just getting him to body up.  There is a lot more contact in this game than people think and creating space as well as maintaining your position is very important.  He still wants to meg me but hasn't yet.

End of season thoughts

So, this week marked the end of my inaugural indoor season.  We pulled off a 4-2 victory that should've been higher GF.  We have had an issue with finishing scoring opportunities and it showed again.  Final should've been at least 7-2 but a win is a win.  I was able to get a goal in for the team and that felt good.  We finished the season #7 out of 18 teams so not bad.  The main differentiator from 4th to 7th was the goal differential.

Also, I was invited to play as a sub for another team immediately after my last team indoor game at a different facility.  I have subbed in for a couple of other indoor teams and the team I subbed for was the indoor team for a player from my outdoor team.  This team was about 1/2 teen/early 20s and 1/2 35+ so I didn't anticipate a ton of playing time.  However, the team we played was very competitive even though they were mostly in the mid 30s range.  It seemed a much faster game with a lot more shooting opportunities and even though on paper the team I played for looked to be clearly positioned for a win, the final was 9-7 us.  I had a couple of scores so at least I felt I contributed.  The younger guys (although they did tend to hold the ball too long and dribble too much) did seem to look for the better scoring opportunities rather than just take it all the way in to showboat.  I hope I will have a chance to play for them again.  It was fun to play in back to back games and it didn't hurt too bad...

Last week we played the #1 and undefeated team.  I had high hopes for a competitive game but they went up 4-0 before half time and we squandered a couple of scoring opportunities but the achilles was the way they ran the a runner and switched fields for a goal almost every time and our defense never marked the runner.  I am not a defender but it was easy to see the pattern and no one would mark the runner.  Then the winning team amped up the physicality.  That led to more unnecessary frustration by our defense.  Playing again into their game.

Next thing you know, we are down 8-0 with 2 min left.  So, now they are playing for the shut out and we are playing for the pride goal.  They basically had man handled our main striker all game and we finally caught them on a 2 on 1 breakaway.  I made the run with him and when they collapsed on the striker, he sent a perfect cross and I one timed it squeezing it in.  I would like to say that it felt good to have that one FU to the #1 team but all I really felt was extremely frustrated.

Lastly, looking for to the start of the EPL season!