Perfect contact

The ball seemed to hover just in front of me for what seemed like ages. It hung there, at the prefect distance from my feet. There was only one option. Players were all around me, but none had white shirts, so there were no passing options, plus the ball was asking to be smashed.

I was directly in front of the goal, but there were players in the way. There did seem to be a path through, so I went for it. I recoiled my leg, found the perfect balance (leaning slightly forward so as to keep the ball low), and swung...

...my laces shot connected perfectly, right off the perfect spot on my foot. The ball leapt forward at a blistering pace, but I knew it was going to be a powerful shot before it left my foot. I have always been blessed with a vicious right foot, and the gratifying feeling never diminishes. This one was no different, it felt good from the moment of contact.

But ultimately it was not as perfect as it felt, as the ball swerved to the right and missed the point I was going for. It also missed the goal. But by that point, the game moved on. Still, the feeling lingered and I relished it. Later I did manage a goal, but ironically it was a light tap in from a defense splitting pass.

The point of this entry is because I find it so amazing that in the 1 or 2 seconds that it took me to choose my options, and then make the shot, I went through an emotion transition, and had multiple thoughts as it was happening. Simply amazing.



I also really enjoy the crew that show up regularly. There are some great players, everyone gets along well, and there are almost never fouls or arguments. In someways, after two days of watching Football Factory International (documentary on hooligan culture), this is the perfect antidote. I can walk away from the game and feel good, physically and psychologically. It is a beautiful game, and lets me take my mind off things. In the wrong context, this leads to bad results, but not here. Here we are individuals from diverse back grounds coming together for some pure competition and out of love of the game.

Its a great thing...