Futbol!!

So one day in class, my language instructor (LCF) mentioned he was going to get together with some friends to play soccer, and did any of us want to join him. Aaahhhhhh….futbol! It’s been a full decade since I last laced up my cleats (which I also donated to a non-profit in March), and I’m horribly, horribly out of shape for it, but futbol!! Heck yeah! I was game!

The next day, having had time to undertake a little sober reflection of the very real possibility of my keeling over five minutes into the match, I tried to gracefully back out. I tried citing the fact that I was in the midst of a chest cold (nada), that I’m not in shape for soccer (which received absolutely no acknowledgement whatsoever), that it’s just been too long since I last played, to which my lovely LCF replied, “but you have to play. You will set such a good example!” Crap. My colleague (also in for the game) asked the LCF if this was basically just a chance for him and his friends to laugh at the Americans’ futbol skills, and received an answer in the affirmative. Oh yay. How enticing.

The day dawned bright and hot. Four hours of language classes in the morning followed by language assessment tests in the afternoon, then play time. About a dozen of us gathered at the astroturfed, fenced-in quarter-size pitch, and started warming up. A little dribbling and about three shots on goal later, and my quads were already burning. And it was HOT. Teams were decided and the game started, and right from the get-go I let my team know they shouldn’t count on me to run a whole lot. I started getting light-headed, so I dumped some of my oh-so-precious water over my head and down my jersey. On the pitch, off the pitch I went, listening to my aging body and advising the youngsters to do the same to theirs.

We had a fun time; it was fun to see the different personalities come out on the field of competition. Some people ended up being surprisingly talented and skilled, some ended up being über competitive. I tried not to take anything too seriously and just enjoy myself, rooting for everyone on both teams whenever they did a good job. I did (accidentally, I swear) put a couple of guys on the ground with my defensive skills, one of whom I have to see on a daily basis, but it’s all good. Everyone had a fantastic time and I’m pretty sure this won’t be our only match during PST.

We played four days ago. I am finally able to walk almost normally again.