I started playing indoor soccer a few months ago at Teamworks in Northborough and it was the best decision I have made this year. I didn't have a team of my own, so I just signed up as a free agent. I used to play soccer as a little kid, but stopped freshman year of high school. My high school was very serious about sports and even if I made varsity the following year, I wouldn't have gotten any playing time anyways. So I made the decision back then to quit soccer and focus on non-athletic extra curricular activities since soccer would have taken up a majority of time if I continued it. I totally regret that decision because I only now realize the value of high school team sports. The social comeraderie, the committment and effort. Not only that, I feel like those who played sports and were in good shape in high school, the formative years of growth both physical and emotional, tend to continue to be physically and emotionally healthy throughout adulthood. Now, for me, it takes extra effort to maintain my weight at a BMI with which I am comfortable.
Last session, I was also a free agent and was placed on a "free agent team." Needless to say, we lost every game by a large margin. But the point was, it was laid fun for our team. Everyone was having a good time, getting some exercise, and not yelling at each other like I saw some other teams do. Nobody was very intense and by the end of it all, we all felt pretty good. There's a group of medical students that play as a team, but they're taking the current session off. Hopefully, I'll be able to join them next session.
Anyways, tonight was our very first game. There were enough free agents to make two sucky teams for this session so we played each other. The score ended up tied in the end 10-10 so all in all, it was both a really bad and really awesome game. I'm totally winded.
ALSO, at one point I was on D. The other team's player was charging at me with the ball. I stuck my foot out, knocked the ball out of the way, but the guy didn't stop running and ran his foot right into my right big toe. It felt like he took out the nail. I felt immediate intense pain, but couldn't think. The ball rolled to another player on their team and he had an open shot on net (only the goalie was there). I managed to run over, jump in front of the shot, and the ball banged off my ass and was cleared. I played the rest of the game with mild pain in my right toe (I was able to move it and it was clear it wasn't broken).
On the way home in the car, I noticed that the pain was considerably worse now that I wasn't playing and the adrenaline of the game wasn't coursing through me. By the time I got home, the stinging was unbearable. I took off my shoe and noticed that the sock was all bloody around the area of the toe.
NOW, to interject here, I was both dismayed and THRILLED! When I started playing soccer a few months ago, I scraped up my knee pretty badly the very first game. The blood was dripping down to the top of my sock (covering the shinguard). I was actually pretty happy at the time because I seriously couldn't remember the last time I had scraped my knee. There was a time during elementary and middle school where I tried to think of a time when my some part of my body wasn't scraped. I was so active then. But then I quit sports and my studies took over and then college was pretty lazy. Seriously, I never scraped anything and it kind of pissed me off to know that I was no longer athletic or active and that I was a good 25 pounds over the weight with which I was comfortable. Looking at my knee that day was awesome and it felt great. Similarly, today, looking at my toe and looking at the bloody sock, I had mixed feelings. Yeah, I was in pain, but I had a bloody sock!!! I played through pain!! Just like Curt Schilling in that legendary 2004 ALCS!!
Last session, I was also a free agent and was placed on a "free agent team." Needless to say, we lost every game by a large margin. But the point was, it was laid fun for our team. Everyone was having a good time, getting some exercise, and not yelling at each other like I saw some other teams do. Nobody was very intense and by the end of it all, we all felt pretty good. There's a group of medical students that play as a team, but they're taking the current session off. Hopefully, I'll be able to join them next session.
Anyways, tonight was our very first game. There were enough free agents to make two sucky teams for this session so we played each other. The score ended up tied in the end 10-10 so all in all, it was both a really bad and really awesome game. I'm totally winded.
ALSO, at one point I was on D. The other team's player was charging at me with the ball. I stuck my foot out, knocked the ball out of the way, but the guy didn't stop running and ran his foot right into my right big toe. It felt like he took out the nail. I felt immediate intense pain, but couldn't think. The ball rolled to another player on their team and he had an open shot on net (only the goalie was there). I managed to run over, jump in front of the shot, and the ball banged off my ass and was cleared. I played the rest of the game with mild pain in my right toe (I was able to move it and it was clear it wasn't broken).
On the way home in the car, I noticed that the pain was considerably worse now that I wasn't playing and the adrenaline of the game wasn't coursing through me. By the time I got home, the stinging was unbearable. I took off my shoe and noticed that the sock was all bloody around the area of the toe.
NOW, to interject here, I was both dismayed and THRILLED! When I started playing soccer a few months ago, I scraped up my knee pretty badly the very first game. The blood was dripping down to the top of my sock (covering the shinguard). I was actually pretty happy at the time because I seriously couldn't remember the last time I had scraped my knee. There was a time during elementary and middle school where I tried to think of a time when my some part of my body wasn't scraped. I was so active then. But then I quit sports and my studies took over and then college was pretty lazy. Seriously, I never scraped anything and it kind of pissed me off to know that I was no longer athletic or active and that I was a good 25 pounds over the weight with which I was comfortable. Looking at my knee that day was awesome and it felt great. Similarly, today, looking at my toe and looking at the bloody sock, I had mixed feelings. Yeah, I was in pain, but I had a bloody sock!!! I played through pain!! Just like Curt Schilling in that legendary 2004 ALCS!!
Anyways, I wanted to take a picture of my own bloody sock, but my mom, being the perfect mom that she is, immediately threw the sock into the sink, knowing that the bloodstain wouldn't come out if we waited longer. Damn her. But here's a picture of my toe all wrapped up! I think the nail may come off, there's definitely blood in the nail bed. It'll probably turn black for sure.
This really may put a damper on the salsa cruise tomorrow night, but I hope it won't be too bad tomorrow and that the injury was largely soft tissue. The nail was largely intact actually. And hopefully, I'll be able to play next week, cause I had a great time (though I am ridiculously out of shape).
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