Soccer With Benefits

Many conversations have been raised among friends with valid to absurd points whether this sport or that sport is better or what actually constitutes a sport to be a sport, usually the conversations are rational but tend to linger off to what boys to best, break things and yell when they don’t get their way. This has lead me to spell out what soccer can do for someone, it helped me more than just physically and will benefit others to level that they could not see before.

Physically, with consistent play soccer will lead to a healthy weight by running 5-10 kilometers per game recreationally where as a pro athlete will run 10 kilometers or more every game while controlling the ball for 200 meters (average) and sprinting 800-1200 meters (average) per game.

Soccer will keep your brain in check, your brain ends up doing many things at once which is ideal because just one play can change the game in seconds. Soccer requires a player to be on their toes and mentally alert, controlling the ball while running, anticipating the play and making calculated decisions to advance the play and keeping in mind where your players and the other team is on the field. 

Soccer teaches sportsmanship, leadership and good worth ethic. To play soccer well and gain all the good the game can give you, you need to train hard and focus on your play. As a recreational player of any age you are able to benefit from what soccer can give because as you progress so do your skills and soccer IQ.

Socially soccer can do wonders, playing on a recreational team can lead to lifelong bonds with teammates and bring like minded people together and share similar interest. 

I gave up playing soccer for a couple of years after high school to concentrate on college, then I was sidelined for two years with a back injury. I didn't think I would be able to play again, it was a dark time recovering from back surgery, gaining weight, being unproductive, did not have the best outlook to get myself back in shape and not actively thinking about bettering myself after a painful recovery. It was a close friend that became a teammate who helped out, encouraged me to get on my feet and got me playing soccer again, it was the common interest in soccer (and his need of a goalkeeper) that shaped our friendship. 

After my surgery I really found the true benefit of being apart of a team, with conditioning and playing I was able to appreciate what this sport provides more than competition. The physicality and being mentally alert can really take a person who absolutely out of shape to (eventually) make them into a scoring machine and introduce you to people who otherwise would pass you by on the street. I have made new friends and become a better player but above all improved my health.

Be it baseball, basketball, hockey or soccer, whichever sport you call your own you will benefit from it. Playing co-ed, beer league or competitive you will gain from it and increase your circle of friends. It doesn't matter what constitutes as sport and doesn't matter how many arguments you will have defending your sport of choice, the real winner in the end is you and the benefits you gain from playing what you love. 

Footie and Me

Growing up playing organized sports was never a thought in my head; sure my brother and I would get together with the other kids and end up playing road hockey with curb post made of bricks or piles of leaves. All the activities we did play did take some organization, limited, but joining a team was not something that we knew much about growing up since we had each other, family and friends on the block.

My first taste of organized sports came in grade 6; I tried out for the basketball team only to be turned down after hours and hours (over two days) of practice which in my head made me as prepared as Michael Jordan in game 6. As sad as I was something began to stir about, I had an itch for something that was missing, that competitiveness, drive, longing, the feeling of proving myself.

Soccer tryouts were next, the only time we ever played soccer as a group would be during lunch recess where every boy and few girls would head on to the soccer field and play class vs. class FULL BODY CONTACT soccer. I loved it! I made the first cut, starting defense but it didn't translate. My first tackle was a full on body check, red card and a very upset coach. Who knew that wasn't allowed, a body check was commonplace during lunch time.

Playing soccer became a serious thing for me in high school, I learned proper technique and structure and we went all the way only to lose in the finals at home. My senior soccer year almost didn't happen, no keeper, no coach and we had to recruit players from anywhere that we could. Baseball was ending so we grabbed our star pitcher, there were a couple of guys playing Magic cards in the lunch room so we grabbed them, basketball wasn't doing too well so we grabbed the star on that team, another one who didn't speak much English and we had at least two guys with bum knees. I was the defensemen for our team, I held the back in check over years at school and one day we were told “even If god came down here, you still wont have a team," I looked around the locker room for a response yet no one opted to play keep so I did and let me tell you something, (well you have no choice since you’re reading this) it was the best decision ever! You have to be a little bit crazy to allow yourself to be pelted by shots but I had an ace up my sleeve named Dejan Jakovic, our star, he taught me how to play net. We organized our own practices and seeing how much passion we had for a team a coach eventually showed up one day on his own.

It was fun! Our band of misfits went onto an undefeated season, unfortunately our season ended in the quarters 1-0 to what in my opinion should have been a cancelled game due to the fact I was knee deep in rain.

There is this feeling that words cannot explain when you launch your body across the goal to parry off a ball after the opposing striker battles through your players only to be shut down, your teammates get energized and the opposing team is left wondering what just happened. That passion never went away transitioning from defense to goal, I still felt it as my teammates put the ball past other keepers as my role and drive was now not to let a single ball past me, I found something better, something even more invigorating, being the last line of defense, controlling the back line, telling my defenders where to be with my eyes on the whole pitch seeing the play develop and being the voice that encourages the team to push on. 

Jermain Defoe - March 10, 2014

Laba Gone - Pre-Season Defeats

Toronto FC knew he would end up elsewhere, that was the sticking point in an article the Toronto Sun did regarding Matias Laba, really? What do you expect when you add the likes of Cesar, Defoe, Bradley and Gilberto.  They traded Laba for future considerations which are not made public, for that reason it’s hard for fans to see this as a fair deal. Just words taken away with the wind, it would be nice to see what these “considerations” are but I guess it makes sense to get rid of that salary since TFC still has to pay out on injured Bright Dike who will miss the entire season and World Cup 2014 Brazil representing  Nigeria.

Going winless in preseason is concerning, watching a deflating final 4-2 loss against an U-23 Brazilian team is a reason to question what’s going on, sure our golden boy Defoe is over in England (with a hamstring pull), Gilberto is nursing and injury and the coach rested Cesar are the answers but, we have seen this before. The Blue Jays, all the star power and look what happened, a mid level team gets overhauled and in a second becomes the Las Vegas favourite to with the World Series. Now before everyone starts to roll up their sleeves and lash out on me saying soccer isn't baseball lets look at what is expected. We need players to gel together, that’s what this preseason was for and with the injuries and/or international call ups that our DP’s will get will take away from TFC’s bonding. That gelling/bonding will have to take place during the season and cannot afford to piece together team chemistry during that time. I for one really do hope that TFC does not continue to live up to the stigma of Toronto as a joke city for sports.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Toronto teams and am always one to say that our teams with go all the way (jokingly with enthusiasm with and a hint of seriousness) and really do genuinely wish for a strong successful TFC , Raptors, Leafs and Blue Jays season with no more heartache.