FOOTBALL
The pitch was iced over from the morning sub-zero temperatures. I couldn't feel my toes, despite the thick sock layers and the boots. If you looked closely enough, your breath froze in the air with ice particles drifting before your eyes.
Today was not a day I wanted to play. I clocked the referee doing his pitch inspection... and then the managers of both sides went out to greet him. I couldn't hear a damn thing for them being out of earshot.
Players from both sides were doing their best to warm up. Surely they're not going to let the game go ahead. A selfish part of me was wanting it called off. I didn't have the confidence today. Haven't felt confident for a couple of months in all fairness. And when you're low, your game suffers – makes you look bad. I wasn't bad, on the contrary, I like to think I was good – the numerous awards before this season proves so.
I don't know why, but when I think about my playing days, there are a handful of moments I remember vividly. This was one of them. Not wanting to play because of experiences outside of football had a knock-on effect on my game, and that was not on! I loved to play.
I'd play in goal if I had to, just to play the game. In fact, I had to for a couple of games because we had no goalkeeper. That was fun, I didn't mind it at all – I saw it as a challenge. We lost, but I gave it my best and I pulled off a crowd-applauding save, which gave me a boost.
There was one time, this was a Saturday morning when I was probably 12 when I got kicked on numerous occasions during a game. Did the referee blow his whistle? Did he bollocks. That really infuriated me because it was so obvious – the pre-meditated leg was swung into my midriff like he'd watched Bruce Lee for reference the night before. I went down and looked at the ref – he looked directly at me and waved play on! The dirty bastard. I got up and went after the ball only to be belted again. No whistle! The cheats!
We won the game in the end, but that wasn't the point. It's a memory from my playing days I still remember. I guess I'm not painting such a wonderful picture of what it was like for me as a young lad playing the game. But in all honesty, for all the bad, there was far more good. The good that I will never forget either, such as collecting a Player of the Season Award from one of my idols growing up, Kenny Daglish. There was a photograph of that moment, but I donated it to my godparents who put it up on the chippy window for their customers to see.
Other wonderful moments came from my stint as a striker. I pleaded for my manager to give me a shot. He duly obliged and we won the game 8-5! I scored seven of those goals, but because we shipped in too many, it wasn't long before I had to play back in defence again.
Anyway, I have so many memories from the game, and the experiences all helped me to grow thicker skin. Putting yourself out there and taking responsibility as part of a team in any sporting activity is something I'll always have.
I put together this video together, combining my love for film with my hobby, football (the opening is completely inspired by District 9, Blomkamp 2009). Thanks to #ChallengesByCin and Srdan for setting up #YourHobbyExposed.