Go Team Go!!!

It's game day! The first for me in a gazillion years. Well maybe not a gazillion, I am prone to slight exaggeration at times, but definitely enough that if I were a little kid counting them on my hands I'd have to start a second round. I'm so excited but so nervous too. I've already peed 5 times! I'm down to drips only now hahaha.

I arrive at the soccer field with plenty of time to spare. Good thing too because my nerves have literally managed to wring some more out of my bladder....

We all walk to the dress shed together as a team. I feel pretty chuffed with myself and smile as I go. Coach starts to hand out jerseys to the team, as he goes he starts letting the players know what position they're playing....I wait patiently for my turn. And I wait, and I wait some more. My jersey is the last to be handed out and I don't get a position.

I'm gutted. I'm on the bench. The blood rushes to my face and I can hear my blood pounding in my ears as I fight to hold back my disappointment from showing. I don't want the rest of the team to see how I feel. I mean I get it. I'm old (compared to most of the team), i'm not match fit, and I'm probably the least experienced (read skilled) player on the team too. Afterall, I did wonder if the coach had a brain fart in the first place when he'd slotted me into the division 1 team....So it really does make sense. It doesn't make it any easier to digest right then and there though.

After our warm up we get ready for the game to begin. I'm still internally sulking like a 2 year old who's just been told they can't watch their favourite tv show.

I fully expect to be sat on the bench the entire game. So imagine my surprise when only about 15mins into the game, I'm subbed on!

Holey cow! I want back on the bench LOL. This game is fast...and it's hot...and I can't get enough breaths inbetween running...and..and....Amazingly I hold out for quite some time. I start in fullback defense and am shuffled to wing back after another player subs out. I suck at both, let's face it, I'm about as elegant on the field as an elephant, but I'm holding my own and slowly, very slowly, starting to get back into the swing of things. But then...I need off...desperately. I'm flagging the coach and he's ignoring me. Huff huff puff puff (but at least no honk! That Ventolin must be doing the trick) ...I run a while longer. It's amazing how fast someone is when you're tired and trying to keep up with them! Speedy gonzalas I am not! The coach looks over I flag again. The coach ignores me haha. Finally after what seems like an eternity I come off the field red faced and completely out of breath. I have to steady my breathing to ward off that prickly feeling that precedes the possibility of fainting...At this point I'm wishing I'd brought more water with me. I'm lucky, it's half time and I get a little more rest. The coach looks at me and laughs, promising me that I'll be eased into gently. I get the feeling I look a bit like a cooked lobster.

The rest of the game passed much the same in terms of play time for me. I subbed on 15mins into the second half and stayed on the field until the final 10 mins...But I did get a fair amount of game time.

AND...we won! 7 to 5...The opposition played a really good game and there were many lost opportunities from both sides.

Even though I was initially really disappointed to be on the bench, it was actually a very good re-introduction back to the game. I got to play, I got to listen to the head coach and assistant coach discuss strategies, I got useful tips for future game play and I got to cheer on and support my team.

So here's to us bench warmers! Without us, the team wouldn't be complete. We may not be the main feature, but we are part of the crew that make the main feature possible. I may be back here for the next game, but I'll cop it on the chin if I am. I'll take it with the maturity and respect that only a mature age player could. Age 1, Youth and immaturity 0. I win ;-)