After about five years off the pitch I finally decided to take my 50-something ass out to play rec soccer last summer. Needless to say I was the elder on the field, by about 20 years (at least).
I played in two matches. The first was magnificent, although I stayed back in defence for most of the match. It was great to run around and I have distance running to thank for the stamina. My teammates were cool enough and a good time was had by all (I don’t even remember the score).
The second match…was different. As soon as the match started a burly dude in a Benfica jersey began pointing at me and telling me that I was out of position (or something to that effect). I immediately shut that shit down, telling him a) he ain’t the captain, b) there is no captain, and c) if he had ideas about my position he could come back to my position and shut the fuck up. My adrenaline was immediately spiked but I was happy that I wasn’t thrown off by this guy’s mouth, and happier that he kept to himself and his friends for the remainder of the match. Then, halfway through the game while I had my turn in goal, a player from the other team, attempting a goal, slid into me and in the process sprained my big toe. Needless to say the rest of the match was a little touch-and-go (yes, I kept playing, don’t ask why). So, not a great outing and it took a couple of weeks for my toe to heal so I didn’t make it out for the rest of the season.
This all said, I’d like to make this a little more of a habit. However, it made me remember just how “normal” injuries were in rec league sports, and, given my age and the fact that I like to live an active life off the pitch, gives me a little bit of pause.
That said, I loved every fucking minute of it.
