Yesterday we kicked off our spring futbol season. And oh how wonderous it was! After two years of being stuck, er, playing in goal, I was able to step onto the pitch at left mid. Ahhhh, wide open space. The day may have been gloomy but our spirits were high. We were all happy to see one another, quickly got caught up and welcomed our new players (quality additions, btw). We heard the very sad news of the sudden loss of a teammate’s father and acknowledged the absence of one of our regulars who recently moved away. We huddled, chanted “1-2-3-WIN!” and the opposing team kicked off the first 40 minutes of play.
Being that our opponents were one of the two top teams in the league, I thought I’d be a bit nervous but oddly enough, I settled right in. It was odd for some of my teammates to see me playing in front of them but they acclimated quickly. Out of the gate we seemed a tad off our game and subsequently they scored first. Then we started putting together some nice runs, one culminating in a gorgeous cross from my teammate, Sandra, as I made my way toward the goal. I leapt above the fray to meet the ball with a pounding header that just skimmed the top of the cross bar. A collective groan echoed across the field. No one, however, was more disappointed than me. Had it hit the back of the net, it would have made my top five goals of all time (and I’ve been playing quite awhile). But I’ve gotta tell ya, it felt good anyway. We went into half-time down 1-nil.
In the second half we really started to click. We pressed hard, had some great shots but couldn’t score. Another shot was cleared, to my side and I beat out my defender. Half way between mid-field and the top of the box I ran onto the ball and rifled a shot into the uppermost right hand corner. Gooooooooooal! It was a rocket and there wasn’t a goalie anywhere that could have stopped it. It was beautiful! One of my top 5 goals of all time.
I felt the emotions well up and could have definitely lost it (and almost did). After battling cancer a second time last year, it meant everything to be back on the field yesterday. I was just overwhelmed with gratitude. To be with my friends, to be playing, to be alive.
Life is good.
