I play in a paradoxical soccer league: It's a rec league run by one of Chicago's sport and social clubs, but it is exceedingly competitive. We have several former college athletes on the team and one ex-professional soccer player. That being said, we won our semi-final match on Monday but lost the final game 2-1.
The physicality of the league is worth mentioning. You might think that because it's coed that play would be tamer than usual. Definitely not the case. In addition to the torn ligament, broken nose, stitches above the eye, and temporary loss of vision that called for an ER visit that I have witnessed in my one year on the team--on Monday night a player on the other team got knocked out for two or three minutes when play got a little too physical and tempers flared. Yikes. I think it is this mix of very competitive athletes that don't play the game at the level they used to and don't have quite the same skills or control that leads to frustration and things getting a little out of hand.
Either way, we have a few weeks off now. I don't think we start another session until just before Christmas when we'll move indoor. Hopefully things will settle down a bit. And so begins the effort to be extra active over the holidays!
< 2 hours of soccer >
