Soccer

Last Wednesday’s post about Brad Pitt was a total fabrication. It won’t happen again. This blog is committed to the whole truth and nothing but!

I was fending off some weird illness during the weekend that only finally lifted when I played soccer on Sunday evening. I’ve noticed that with these pick-up soccer games, which I’ve been enjoying for several years now, that more fun is had the more anarchic the vibe is. Whenever any particular player tries too hard to organize strategy, boy can it ever get tiresome.

To a small extent, that’s what happened Sunday, but thankfully, it was the opposing team that did this, not mine. What happened was, only eight regulars showed up, so when one of them dropped out, we were really shorthanded. So we asked about five or six players who had been using the field before us if they wanted to join in. They said yes, but because they play as a proper team together, they wanted to stay as a cohesive whole. OK, we said. They “borrowed” two of our players to even up the sides and the game was on.

I really felt bad for a guy called Byron on their team. His team-mates kept yelling for Byron to do this, Byron do that. The team was trying too hard to be organized. Although we lost track of the score, I’m pretty sure we got more goals than them. And I put it down to that team putting too much pressure on themselves and in particular, on poor old Byron.

I suffered the same experience myself last week. I joined a group of international students that I used to play with last year. When I came onto the field, “my team” decided to play me as a forward. I played horribly, so I got what seemed to be a demotion to midfield. Our team continued to suffer, conceding more goals. The Eastern European who had styled himself as leader then decided to demote me even further. He barked orders at me and three other defenders. We were to fan out in front of goal and play no further forwards than him. We were to act as his cover. What a strange strategy. Our play was awkward and stilted. It had no flow. Nobody wanted to take chances and run forwards. Things only improved when enough players left that the game was forced into being more open.

I’ve encountered this situation a few times now and I’ve noticed a common cause: a lack of women. If you have a few women on the team – as we almost always do on Sundays – then things are more laid back. Leave it to a group of men to play among themselves and this slightly discomfiting social hierarchy emerges, based on ability (or perceived ability).

The game is no fun when people take it too seriously.