Summer soccer

I’ve been playing in the open league with a team of great people. We are all new to the league and learning each others’ styles, as well as names. I’ve enjoyed being on the pitch again and I really need the exercise, so it’s been great for me all around. Along with the pick-up games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, my legs and my lungs are slowly getting back into shape.

On Sunday we played another game, and suffered another loss. It was a bit of an extra sad day though. One of our players, Rob, got hurt unnecessarily. The whistle was already blown and he and the opposing keeper kept playing. The keeper made a very late and very hard play (not even going after the ball) against Rob which resulted in a broken ankle for Rob. These types of needless injuries frustrate me because all the goalie had to do was let Rob go, or play the ball instead of the player. For one, the whistle was already blown and there was no need for that hard of a play. Two, the keeper made a late play against the player and not the ball. Three, it’s an open league in a small city, not the World Cup Finals. True, both players should have stopped on the whistle, but making a dangerous play like that places the blame on the keeper for the injury itself. It was a dirty play. I’m sad to see a good player like Rob get taken out of a season and possibly more because of a dirty play. To add insult to injury (literally) there was no foul called on the play. I hope Rob is OK and I hope he’s back on the pitch soon.

The bad luck seems to be following us because the week before a player on the opposing team was injured in a fluke accident. Webster, my teammate, and the opposing player were vying for the ball and bumped hips – perfectly legal and not very hard – but the opposing player lost his balance and fell forward. When he landed his wrist was in a backward bent position and the force of the fall and his weight broke his wrist. Webster felt really bad about it, but it truly was a fluke accident. There was no rough play involved, no foul to be argued over, just a strange accident. Those things sometimes happen in sports.

That’s what makes Rob’s injury so frustrating to me. The simple fact is that his injury was completely avoidable. It wasn’t a fluke. It was a dangerous play. Now Rob will be out for the rest of the season and possibly more. With a joint injury like this, he may never be able to play at the same level (or even at all) again. I really hate seeing that and I really hope it doesn’t happen to me. I stayed away from the aftermath for fear of saying something inflammatory towards the keeper. I didn’t want to start a team fight and make the situation worse. I felt bad for Rob though. I can tell he loves to play as much as I do and I can imagine what he’s going through. My prayers are with you Rob.