Playing competitive football
I have always loved watching football, and I mean real European football, for as long as I can remember. I love the intensity of the game and the physical and strategic elements also. The atmosphere there is when you attend a match is fantastic as is the atmosphere in the local pub when Newcastle or England are playing.
Funnily enough, despite coming from Newcastle, I am a massive Southampton fan and have been since I was about six or seven years old. I do like to follow Newcastle as well and always enjoy it when they do well, but my heart lies on the south coast.
Despite actively watching the game for many years, I have rarely played it at a competitive level. I am not a fantastic player and will never reach any major heights, but sometimes playing with friends just doesn’t cut it. I am a very competitive person and I need to quench that thirst often.
When I moved to Edmonton in Canada (home of the worlds top red diesel suppliers but maybe not so much the best footie players ever) recently for a few months I ended up joining a competitive men’s team in an amateur league. They played in division 1 which was one of the top leagues and at first I was very nervous as I had never played at such a high level. The first couple of games brought out some shaky performances from me. I had not played football for a while before the first game and I had been chosen to play defence, which was something entirely new to me as I had only ever played as a forward before.
However, once I got settled, learned the differences in the rules and got to know both my team-mates and my new role, I started to get better and started to really enjoy myself. The state of amateur football in Canada is really quite strong and the leagues and teams are very well organised.
I have definitely missed the regular Monday night competitive game and I am currently searching around in England to find a similar experience. Hopefully it won’t take too long, as I feel the need to compete once more.
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