To our mothers, who have been wondering why their sons have been skipping so many dinners "for soccer".
To my coaches, who may not know fully what's going on in our heads during half-time breaks.
And to you, the soccer wannabe.
Prepare to be a left back: for the benefits of those who are not familiar with soccer, here is one way to form a soccer team. Those who are strong and like to push people would be the center backs. Those who are fast and can cross the ball would be the mid-fielders. Those who are tall to head the ball or have strong legs to shoot the ball would be the strikers. Those who are not so strong, not so fast, not so tall would be the full backs. Among the bunch of leftover, there would be one right-footed guy who are a bit stronger, a big faster or a bit taller than the rest. So he would be the right back. But then there would only be one guy who is left-footed. He is the left back of the team.
The point here is the left back is most probably the weakest, the slowest or the shortest guy on the field. And for the rest of his career as a soccer player, it's most likely that he would not grow much, and would never get to a new position in the team. If in your dream, you are the poster boy, don't be a left back.
Prepare to be a substitute: now and then your coach would ask you to take a break. Give chance for other people to have some playing time. Or, warm the bench. You become a substitute and you sure will hate it. When you play, you are expected to shout because your voice would give gradual mental boost to your teammates who are so tired. Because your voice is so rumbling that it can intimidate the other team. Or because you are nervous. Whatever reason it is, no body would probably hear you clearly, especially the spectators. They are either too engrossed in the game or because they can hardly distinguish you from the twenty guys running around on the field.
But when you take a seat on the bench and you shout, you are immediately placed under the limelight. The spectators become so close to you that they can hear everything that you say. If you have a weird voice - so high that sometimes when you are not careful it ends up very feminine - or a weird accent - so exotic that the whole spectators stand would laugh - don't be a substitute.
Prepare to take a free kick: you watched the Nike advertisement clip? The one with Christiano Ronaldo walks up to place the ball, kiss it, steps back to pose in his usual robot-style stand before bending the ball into the net? And then people around the world cheer and worship him?
You would never be able to do that, trust me. This is the real scenario: your striker is fouled and he was so angry that he wants to take the free kick, but coach says no. You step up because you are the only left-footed guy in the team to take the free kick from this angle. You place the ball down on the field, calm your pounding heart and take 10 steps back, 2 steps to the right as usual. During training, that is what you do to take a free kick. But the ball would roll down into a dent on the field. So you walk up to adjust the ball. That little delay makes you stand out even more - you are the only one moving on the field now. You can feel that all eyes are on you. But you take the run up to take the shot anyway. You would probably take a last glance at the top left corner of the goalpost, look down on the ball and garner every last bit of concentration that you have to hit the ball, a bit to the right and below the center. Or you would think, "What if I miss?".
Taking a free kick is a nerve-wrenching ordeal that you should not want.
Prepare to go insane: remember the first tip? So you are in soccer, and you may have followed all the tips that you are told. You start training and you start playing. You will start running, and if you are the fast guy, you may feel like you are just taking a stride a few, like 10, rounds around the field. If not, then make sure that you do three things during training, after training and during weekend respectively. Run. Run. And Run. You will to learn how to header. If you are the tall striker, well, it should be what you have done all the while. If you are not, then make sure that when the ball is flying to you, open you eyes, jump and aim your head right at the ball. You will be given a bip and start "sparring". If you are the center back, this is your favorite, so make sure you hit the other team hard. If you are not, then you'd better look for the biggest center back in the team and try to bang into him until either one of you are knocked to the ground.
Soccer is much about which team is more wiling to pounce on the ball, more wiling to stick out the leg to get the ball, more wiling to get up after a crashing fall to chase after your opponent. To win, you must be more insane than the other team.
By now, if you are smart, you should stray away from that bunch of kids screaming, rolling and crawling on the field. But you may not be that smart. So let me help you figure a way out if you have already refused to follow, or may be all the tips that I have told you. I know the way, because I have been through all of them.
So first, read the title. This is meant for a kid who wants to join Singapore A-Division Soccer Tournament. For those who are not sure what it is, that's fine. Singapore is a small dot in the South East Asia. A-Division Soccer tournament from all the junior colleges in that tiny country. Junior College is basically a 2-years education system preceding college.
So my reader, the Singapore A-division soccer wannabe, your career is only two years. Or may be less. For me, I thought I was smart, so I did not join the soccer team on the first day. After half a year, I nearly made a smart decision - I asked my coach to quit soccer.
Of course, at the end, I was so not-smart that I have joined and stayed in the soccer team. Here is how I survive through those 2 years.
I was a left back. Remember that short, weak and not-so-skillful (and bespectacled) boy? If it's you and you never join the team, you would happily continue to play soccer in the weekend, watch the English Premier League and occasionally, think about how it feels to be like one of those stars. Or you would put on the school jersey, pull up your long socks and put on your "studs". For once in your life, you geeky boy can feel that you are so closer to your stars.
I do warm the benches many times. If once your career starts and you get injured, or you may just not play well recently, make sure that you rest your feet but not your throat. Because if you shout like a duck, a high-pitched one indeed, like me, make sure that it must be quacking duck. You must shout for your teammate, your brothers who are trailing behind, who are exhausted and disheartened. And once you are put on the field, you shout your lungs and play your heart out. Sometimes you may not be the most talked about, or you may receive too much attention instead, you should always do your best.
I do take free kicks now and then. If your team have a free kick and the angle of the shot is suitable for your left foot, take it. Your team may be down by one goal and time is ticking away, and you have to score that goal. When you run up, preparing to slam the ball, you would have a feeling that time is dilating. You will be able to recall so vividly the arc that the ball drawn, how it soars through the air before gushing into the net and you would feel your heart jumps in your chest. Or how it flies off the net and your heart sinks. I missed that free kick in an important match before. When you know that you have a choice: you try and miss the opportunity, or you may find an excuse to ask someone else to do it, slap yourself in the face to wake up, then try. If you fail and you are lucky, you may have a coach and teammates like mine, they would pat on your back and say "That was close. Good shot".
I had to take 20 or 30 shots for months before the tournament started. I have been wearing spectacles for a long time, so I have always tried to avoid heading a ball. When I started playing "serious" soccer, I was pretty bad at estimating where a high ball drops, so I had to do 20 headers or so a day. But my teammate, the striker, had to do 1000 in 7 days. I had my ankles sprained a few time and bruises and contusions are occasional. But my friend dislocated his elbow. When you start your A-Div career, you may find the game so insane. You will get hurt, sometimes badly, or probably lose some of your "smartness" if you head the ball too much. But once you are in the midst of a match, you will hardly remember such things. For a rare chance in your life, you love going insane. And there are ten other crazy boys on the field would you, so it would be fine.
Prepare to be a left back.
Prepare to be a substitute.
Prepare to take a free kick.
Prepare to go insane.
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