6 v 6 Indoor Soccer: Game 1

I played on a soccer team from roughly 2nd grade through 7th grade, first outdoor, then indoor. I stopped playing because I was too out of shape.

In May of this year, I was with the boys at our local park and saw a group of youth soccer games in progress. It looked really fun. 

I started going to our gym to kick the ball around. After a couple weeks, I bought a new ball. I looked into joining a soccer team. I found a 6 v 6 indoor league that plays at our gym. But there was no way for individuals to join, just full teams. So I emailed somebody and asked to be on a free agent list. 

This morning I got an email. A team was looking for players. He told me I needed cleats, shinguards, a white shirt, and black shorts. It's not the most attractive color scheme, but I did have the shirt and shorts. I had the cleats--I bought them in 2006 to play 16" softball in Chicago. On my way home, I went to Sports Authority to buy shinguards. I was ready. Well, I at least had the gear.

I start warming up and I feel like I fit in, same ages, same gear. I asked the "coach" what we do about formations and subs. He said he wanted 2 D to always stay back, with 3 up front that can roam. I told him I could play D (I figured it involved less running) and he put me on the field to start the game. 

This was week 4 of the season. The first two weeks the team forfeited. Last week they lost 10-1. Later I found out this was a work team that clearly didn't have enough interested players. This week we were playing a 0-3 team, but they were in all of their games. 

The game is two halves, 23 minutes each. 

I was tested right away. There's no hiding how good you are when there's only 5 outfield players on the pitch. I made some decent plays, passes. I also got burned real bad on some 1 on 1 jukes. We gave up a goal 6 minutes in. It was pretty clear that they had a number of good players and we had a few that were okay. I subbed out when I got winded, but a few minutes later was back out without ever getting back to full stamina. 

I got a little better, made some decent plays, still got burned but not as much. I think I played four shifts in the first half, never really getting a chance to catch my breath. With about a minute or two left in the first I stole the ball at midfield and panicked and dumped it in even though all my teammates were behind me. That dump in bought my team about four seconds. It was worthless to steal it if that's what I was going to do. It's so much harder to see the field and make split-second decisions when you're out there. Always a good reminder for sports fans. 

I was looking forward to halftime because I was fucking gassed. Halftime is one minute. Luckily I sat on the bench to start the 2nd and somehow no one needed a sub for a good 8 minutes or so. So when I came on in the second half, I felt as rested as I could be. For the first time, I was put in an offensive position. At this point I think we were losing 4-0 or 5-0. The game had slowed down and our team finally had some chances because the other team was caught out of position. 

We had the ball down and were taking some shots, usually wide and trying to pass and all that. I parked my ass in the box, about 6 feet in front of the goal. And wouldn't you know the ball landed at my feet. I poked at it with the top of my foot and pushed it right through the keeper's legs. Our team scored one goal all night and I got it. It's hard to believe even now.

A few minutes later, I kicked a guy in the shin. It wasn't on purpose, but it also wasn't that close to the ball. I was just tired and flailing around out there. But hey, that's why we have shinguards, right?

My shift only lasted four minutes I think. It was amazing how little stamina I had after resting for a full ten minutes. Five minutes later, I was ready enough to go back in. But no one came out after the 5-minute mark. Truthfully, I wanted to get out there a bit, but I knew I didn't have anything left in my tank. It was as good as anything just to sit on the bench. With 28 seconds to go our team got called for a penalty. They had a shootout, they scored. 

I think the final was 6-1 but I'm not really sure. 

In short, I have no stamina. But I did score the only goal of the game. And I was only on offense for about 4 minutes. It was really fun, but it's been over an hour and a half since the game ended and I'm still exhausted.