When I started my ALPHABET OF SPORTS, there were certain letters I never even fretted about. T was always going to be Trampolining because that was the only physical activity I had something akin to real life experience of. And F was always, always going to be Football. It's not like there was an alternative (except fencing. And figure skating. Fox hunting, field hockey, fishing... but let's be honest, it was always going to be football.)
Then why did I leave it so long? Well, it is surprisingly difficult to find an opportunity to play if you are a terribly unfit middle aged two-left-feeted woman. It wasn't for lack of trying; yes, I was that childfree woman queuing at the face painting stand at the family faire reaching out to primary school aged wannabe players in the hope of getting a contact. For some reason, clubs were not too keen in having me "help" them with their training. One of the very few replies I received to my enquiries was an offer from a local sports ground that I could use their field to have a kick about with friends.
A KICK ABOUT WITH FRIENDS? What did they think I was after? FUN? Without some kind of organiser there to tell me the rules and make me feel terrible about my terribleness?
Due to the obvious ridiculousness of the offer, I kindly turned it down.
Luckily for me, and for many other women, SuperLady Kathryn has a braver heart than me. She went forth and did the exact opposite by putting out a shout out on Facebook: Are there any women in the Felixstowe area who would join me for a kick about?
I've been lucky to join her on week 2 of her adventure - and she's already gone up in the world: where we played today, there were permanent goal posts and we had bibs. Who knows, maybe by next week she'll own a whistle?
As always, I was quite nervous: new people, a new place, my breathing had been suboptimal over the past few weeks, and the sheer thought of accelerated movement... my tummy was churning. The thing that gave me a bit of confidence this time was that I knew quite a few of the Ladies already from work, and the fact that it was quite a new group. I was all the more impressed by the bravery of those who turned up without knowing anyone else there.
Any remaining nerves went out of the window when the question "could you please explain the rules, I don't really know them" was answered with loudly blown raspberries.
After a brief giggly warm up (which explained the comments about Tena Ladies), we were off. By "off" I mean - we literally ran after the ball, some people sometimes kicked it, and sometimes it went into a goal.
It primarily went into the goal I was meant to keep. I think that today, we learnt the lesson of never putting your worst player in the goal.
Don't get me wrong: There were brilliant players who always seemed to get the ball where they intended it to go, who were in the right place at the right time, and who used professional lingo like "corner". But the atmosphere was so relaxed that it really didn't matter that I wasn't one of them. It truly was a kick about it in the park with friends - is there a more fun way of getting out of breath, increasing your heart rate and getting your steps in?
Are you thinking of going along? Give me a shout and I'll put you in touch with the legend that is Kathryn - and have a look at my top tips:
- Good trainers. The ground was slippery, and some mighty players fell today.
- Wear layers, like a zip-up hoodie or something... you'll get warm very quickly, and cool down just as fast when you stop.
- Most definitely bring a bottle of water
- It's free.. for now. But we are thinking of joining like a league where it would never matter if we won or lost and where we would make lots of money for our owners from TV deals and stuff... We know the fans would be disappointed but...
- Don't be afraid of getting involved - just go for it.
- In the words of Kathryn's son Freddy, who had the dubious pleasure of practicing with his team on the field next to ours: "Just be happy and try your best".
Pretty sound advice from a young boy who just had to put up with our squeaking, giggling, and falling over for an hour.
(P.S: Still looking to fill letters L and M.... and I don't think I'd survive lacrosse... still grateful for any hints so we can finish this sporty torture :-D)
