Grasskicker

For those who know me, you'll know that one of my frustrations about living here is that no one seems to play sports or is very active. There isn't much in the way of social sports for adults, from what I gather.

I had looked into joining a co-ed soccer league, but only found an indoor league run by Aussie expats. It wasn't a positive experience (nothing against the Aussies). Basically, the guys on my team were really young and arrogant. They never passed to the girls at all and were really aggressive. After awhile the girls stopped showing up altogether since we figured they didn't actually need us to play even though two women are required at all times or the game is defaulted. None of the girls on the team wanted to be pitch warmers, ie. stand on the pitch purely so that the guys could play.

There are some women's leagues, but what I found is that you don't join a league and get put on a team, you have to join a club (team). There isn't a real way to do that if you're an outsider. You have to really campaign to get on a team and you basically have to know someone. There is no such thing as a spare list or an individuals/free agent team.

I also found out that the real social sport to play in Ireland is touch rugby. However, the league only runs for nine weeks in the spring, which makes me wonder what people do for the other 41 weeks of the year.

I recently heard that a few of the women at work were trying to put together a team. So, I joined. I was concerned at first because I heard that they have a trainer and conduct practices. I wasn't sure I would be good enough for the team because I've only played on a purely recreational level. When I approached the captain about playing, I started to tell her about my soccer experience. She looked at me and said, "you've played before? That's GREAT! None of us have." I then heard about their first game against the other work team, which was formed on the other office campus. It was described as 14 women running in a pack following the ball - kind of like when you see five year-olds play soccer, minus the two kids sitting down picking dandelions. So, I figured I would either love it or hate it.

I played my first game last night and I love it! Most of the girls have no soccer experience, but a lot of them are athletic and you can tell that they're picking it up. One girl is really good and has obviously played before. Rules are very loosely applied. None of them know the rules actually. There was a big discussion at one point between a goal kick or corner kick. I was on forward and kicked the ball last but bounced it off the defender's leg. So corner. However, she started to argue that I kicked it last. So, we discussed whether it was last 'kick' or last 'touch' (it's last touch). The best part though, is that these women are so enthusiastic about playing. It's really fun. I didn't exactly play full out, which was fine with me considering it was my first game in 10 months. I am also pretty much the second-best player out there, after the other woman I mentioned, who incidentally has the same last name as me. However, it was so much fun to get out there and run around. It was the best.