My sister and I have a pact. I am not to ever stop playing
soccer and she is not to ever buy an Iphone. You may think this seems somewhat
ridiculous however it was put in place for some very important reasons. I will
explain why my end of the bargain needs to be held up.
Year 12 for me was terrible. Often I would be bogged down in
studying or stressing because I am not studying enough and I would think that
it might be better for me to skip soccer practise. It was never a good idea.
Going out into the rain/wind/bitter cold to run around for an hour and a half
sounded horribly unpleasant but in the end it ALWAYS made me feel better and
inspired me to continue studying. Playing soccer allowed me a chance to give my
brain some fresh air; It let me focus my energy and skills on something that
yielded immediate results; Kicking a ball gave me a channel for releasing pent
up anger and frustration and drinking wine and eating cheese with the women
afterwards let me socialise and give me space from my family (whom I love
dearly.) Whenever I didn’t play soccer I became, for want of a better word,
twitchy. The odd thing about this twitchiness is I didn’t even notice. I would
think that I was fine and that life was just getting a bit harder but it was never
until I played soccer again that I realised that I hadn’t been able to zone out
of life for a moment. You know that feeling of calm, control and disconnect from
stress that people get from yoga? I get that feeling when I can sprint down a
soccer pitch whilst dribbling a ball.
This year I started college. The first 4 months of it I felt
as though someone had dragged me backwards through a swimming pool by my ankle
and I was just trying to get regular gulps of air. That’s not to say it wasn’t
fun. I decided though, spurred on by the $400 registration fee and timetabling
clashes, that I would give soccer a miss for the time being. My justification
was that there were plenty of things going on that could keep me exerting
energy, I could play pool whenever I wanted and if I started getting twitchy I
could go for jogs.
Oh Cel. Rookie error.
Tonight I played basketball. Emma came and begged me to play
because there were not enough girls to play and they couldn’t find anyone and
some unnamed sources had pointed her in my direction. I told her how terrible I
was as evidenced by the interfloor mixed basketball and I told her I would play
because I’d hate to see people let down and, lets be realistic, I cant say no
to sport. I was so worried because I last time I played basketball I felt so
clumsy and out of place, which was an unfamiliar and disconcerting feeling
given that playing sport is my nirvana. When we started playing I realised that
two things were very different.
1, my attitude. I went into it willing to give it my all and
I somehow managed to talk myself into giving me a break about my skills because
it was only the second time I had ever played it and nobody is perfect (hear
that mean Cel NOBODY is perfect!).
2, This was all girls. Now I’m not saying all girls are easy
to play on or not aggressive because its just not true. But when playing all
girls and people you don’t know its hells easier to be aggressive and
assertive.
By the end of the game I had learnt a few things about
myself. I am fit enough to play a zoning game of basketball, which is a nice
feeling that my lungs/ legs didn’t let me down. (this of course may have been
due to the fact that I wasn’t trying to everything all at once and give it my
120%). I know very little about the rules and strategies of the game, which I
plan to rectify with a few sauce bottles and the expertise of Colin on my
floor. The last and most important thing I learnt is that it really doesn’t
matter which sport I am playing, I can hustle and get that ball even if I cant do
anything with it once its in my possession. Once it’s a challenge the
opposition girl will be damned if she thinks she is going to win a game of ‘who
wants it more?’
So when I finished playing (and winning I might add) I
realised something. I was no longer twitchy. I felt SO GOOD. So I think I am
going to start playing basketball regularly because even though I am not the
best this is a perfect opportunity to learn and remain twitchless for the rest
of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment