Hitting the field for the first time
As you may already know, I
write a soccer column for this publication.
Even though I write, I
never even began to think that I
knew more than anyone else does
about soccer. Because I never even
played the game. Until this summer.
I was born in a small rural town called Lion's Head, an hour's drive north of Owen Sound. It's quiet, very conservative, and the sports range from hockey to baseball and back to hockey. I started following soccer after a German international in the area started showing us kids how to play the game. As I grew up, cartoons on Saturday mornings easily transitioned to English Premier League matches, and suddenly I was really into the sport.
This was my first summer in any city, and first summer without any baseball since I was five. I decided to sign up for a soccer team here in London.
I won't disclose the club, but I played for a team in the First Division of the LOSL (London Ontario Soccer League). Registration was fairly cheap, and I got all of my equipment for peanuts as well. I wanted to be active, if anything. I've never been to the gym, as work on the farm back home kept me fairly fit in the summer, so I saw this as a chance to increase my fitness level and a way to stop being the kind of soccer fan who thinks he knows it all — now I would actually know it.
My first game was played at North London field in May. It was wet and foggy. When I stepped on the field as a sub, I had more butterflies than I can ever remember playing sports. I played left midfield for 15 minutes or so before I took myself off.
I was in over my head in terms of the quality of play. Everyone on the team was much older than I was, by decades at least. These guys knew the game. So I started to learn.
In the time I played on the team, I played all positions and learned things every game about the certain nuances to individual performances, which was exactly what I was looking for. I was a student, if anything.
In short, I was looking for a new experience and this certainly added value to my life. I came from a town where there were no options at all for this sport. Instead, not only did I stay fit, but I also pushed myself to learn more about the game that I thought I knew.
I was born in a small rural town called Lion's Head, an hour's drive north of Owen Sound. It's quiet, very conservative, and the sports range from hockey to baseball and back to hockey. I started following soccer after a German international in the area started showing us kids how to play the game. As I grew up, cartoons on Saturday mornings easily transitioned to English Premier League matches, and suddenly I was really into the sport.
This was my first summer in any city, and first summer without any baseball since I was five. I decided to sign up for a soccer team here in London.
I won't disclose the club, but I played for a team in the First Division of the LOSL (London Ontario Soccer League). Registration was fairly cheap, and I got all of my equipment for peanuts as well. I wanted to be active, if anything. I've never been to the gym, as work on the farm back home kept me fairly fit in the summer, so I saw this as a chance to increase my fitness level and a way to stop being the kind of soccer fan who thinks he knows it all — now I would actually know it.
My first game was played at North London field in May. It was wet and foggy. When I stepped on the field as a sub, I had more butterflies than I can ever remember playing sports. I played left midfield for 15 minutes or so before I took myself off.
I was in over my head in terms of the quality of play. Everyone on the team was much older than I was, by decades at least. These guys knew the game. So I started to learn.
In the time I played on the team, I played all positions and learned things every game about the certain nuances to individual performances, which was exactly what I was looking for. I was a student, if anything.
In short, I was looking for a new experience and this certainly added value to my life. I came from a town where there were no options at all for this sport. Instead, not only did I stay fit, but I also pushed myself to learn more about the game that I thought I knew.
