Last summer I joined a soccer team up in the Appleton area. I really didn’t know what kind of league it was until I got to the first game. Turned out it was a Co-Ed Recreational League. But I committed to playing with them and it wasn’t too bad. Since I am going to be up in Appleton again this summer, I decided to play with
them again. The team is worse. It isn’t that the players are that bad, they are just not soccer smart. Nearly the entire team has no composure, I.E. the ball comes to them and they just kick it anywhere. And they play with no sense of urgency, just waiting for the ball to come to them. The players that are decent want to dribble all over. We won Sunday night, yet it was a highly unfulfilling night on the pitch. It really makes me long for the days of my past teams. My high school soccer team was above average, winning conference both years I was on varsity. Oddly enough my high school soccer career came to a close at the hands of Hartland Arrowhead, with none other than one, Dave “The General” Stegall minding the goal. My first year that I played club soccer with Spring City we had a great team. I would say that team was even better than my high school team. Moving on into my college years, I played with Reinders U23s. Easily the most fun I had on the soccer field. We had a very good team, we were just highly unorganized and rarely fielded a full team. We played one game in Racine, we started with only 10 players, then Mark Thome got a red card and thrown out of the game. Joe Reinders
had to leave a half time to get back to Madison. Finally Eric Case got hurt and could barely walk. The ref wouldn’t let him sit out because we had to have 8 players on the field, so Eric just stood by the sideline and walked back and forth over the midfield line so he wouldn’t screw up our offsides traps. We ended up winning that game 4-3. Justus, Kaker and I would literally be telling jokes and stories while the game was going on. And this was while we were in a competitive league. Then I had a spell were I sort of lost touch with soccer. I would say something like 8 or 9 years. My friend, Phil, called me up one night and asked me if I wanted to play indoor with him and some of his college buddies. I said sure. It is funny because after all of those years off, I got back on the field and just kicked the ball around for a little bit, and the love that I have for the game came rushing back. When you are on a team that has everyone on the team knowing how to play the game the right way, it makes you love the game even more. It was a great team, everyone passed the ball around, everyone got tons of touches. People would make runs and create space and switch around on defense and cover for you when you made a run. No one took shifts that were 5 minutes long. It was rare for someone to
stay out on the field for more than 3 minutes. I can recall having a 40 second shift one time. We routinely won 10-2 or something like that. I think we won the league 3 or 4 times. Stegall ended up playing a couple seasons with us, and we would talk about how Tuesday night was the highlight of our entire week because we got to play soccer. I really enjoyed that team and savored playing at that time. When I was in Minnesota I played with Krum and a bunch of his buddies. They were just pick up games in this tiny gymnasium. They were all very good players, nearly everyone was better than me. But the hard floor and walls really beat you up. I would have loved to play in an indoor or outdoor league with that group. In fact they did as me to play outdoor with them, but I moved to Appleton. Anyhow, the past is the past, but I just needed to write this all out and vent, because I was so incredibly frustrated playing Sunday night. It is hard to express home much I miss those teams, and I miss them even more now, because I am on a team that really sucks.
them again. The team is worse. It isn’t that the players are that bad, they are just not soccer smart. Nearly the entire team has no composure, I.E. the ball comes to them and they just kick it anywhere. And they play with no sense of urgency, just waiting for the ball to come to them. The players that are decent want to dribble all over. We won Sunday night, yet it was a highly unfulfilling night on the pitch. It really makes me long for the days of my past teams. My high school soccer team was above average, winning conference both years I was on varsity. Oddly enough my high school soccer career came to a close at the hands of Hartland Arrowhead, with none other than one, Dave “The General” Stegall minding the goal. My first year that I played club soccer with Spring City we had a great team. I would say that team was even better than my high school team. Moving on into my college years, I played with Reinders U23s. Easily the most fun I had on the soccer field. We had a very good team, we were just highly unorganized and rarely fielded a full team. We played one game in Racine, we started with only 10 players, then Mark Thome got a red card and thrown out of the game. Joe Reinders
had to leave a half time to get back to Madison. Finally Eric Case got hurt and could barely walk. The ref wouldn’t let him sit out because we had to have 8 players on the field, so Eric just stood by the sideline and walked back and forth over the midfield line so he wouldn’t screw up our offsides traps. We ended up winning that game 4-3. Justus, Kaker and I would literally be telling jokes and stories while the game was going on. And this was while we were in a competitive league. Then I had a spell were I sort of lost touch with soccer. I would say something like 8 or 9 years. My friend, Phil, called me up one night and asked me if I wanted to play indoor with him and some of his college buddies. I said sure. It is funny because after all of those years off, I got back on the field and just kicked the ball around for a little bit, and the love that I have for the game came rushing back. When you are on a team that has everyone on the team knowing how to play the game the right way, it makes you love the game even more. It was a great team, everyone passed the ball around, everyone got tons of touches. People would make runs and create space and switch around on defense and cover for you when you made a run. No one took shifts that were 5 minutes long. It was rare for someone to
stay out on the field for more than 3 minutes. I can recall having a 40 second shift one time. We routinely won 10-2 or something like that. I think we won the league 3 or 4 times. Stegall ended up playing a couple seasons with us, and we would talk about how Tuesday night was the highlight of our entire week because we got to play soccer. I really enjoyed that team and savored playing at that time. When I was in Minnesota I played with Krum and a bunch of his buddies. They were just pick up games in this tiny gymnasium. They were all very good players, nearly everyone was better than me. But the hard floor and walls really beat you up. I would have loved to play in an indoor or outdoor league with that group. In fact they did as me to play outdoor with them, but I moved to Appleton. Anyhow, the past is the past, but I just needed to write this all out and vent, because I was so incredibly frustrated playing Sunday night. It is hard to express home much I miss those teams, and I miss them even more now, because I am on a team that really sucks.
3 comments:
Jon and I also have been enjoying the games. One thing that kills us is all the fake injuries. What a bunch of babies. The first real injury I saw was the collision between Germany and Turkey and the both got their heads stiched up on the field and contiuned to play. That's pretty tough.
Look who is talking about faking an injury. One rolled ankle and you quit for the season.
I really enjoyed your posting. Yes I love soccer too. Great job Rick
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