Kicking a football into my heart

I am not a football player. Never in my life have I considered playing the sport seriously. You can actually count me as more of a badminton or squash person.

But, a few days ago, I did something very different: surprisingly, I loved it.

Just like every year, Goal-a-thon, Woodstock’s very own football event which raises money for charity, was going to be held. In the last three Goal-a-thons, I have been spotted on the bleachers cheering for my favorite teams. I was never on the court.

About a couple of weeks, before the event kicked off, my friends were planning on making a troll team. Sounded great. I was all up for being their team manager and supporting them until a girl asked me if I wanted to play.

Of course, my first reaction was a big no. I had kicked a ball only once in my Woodstock life, in P.E. class, which resulted in one of my shoes flying across the gym.  It was one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. I will never forget it.

So no, I was not letting that happen to me again, this time in front of the whole school.

I told the girl that I was not going to play, as I am better at managing teams than playing on the court. But, she gave me three reasons to play: firstly, I was to play in a troll team and nobody on the team knows how to play, so all is for fun; secondly, that they had a shortage of one player on the team; finally, that I will regret not playing when I leave Woodstock.

Well, she got me on that. I went on this sad little journey in my mind, thinking about how much I will regret not playing for a high-school tournament, and how I am likely never going to get another chance to play football.

I told her that I was up for it. Our team consisted of six members now.

We didn’t really practice much as we were a troll team, but we tried kicking the ball around sometimes. We were deciding the positions when some of my team members said that they think I am a good striker.

Sounded like a plan.

We played four games in total; won the first one, lost the next two, and tied on the last one. As a troll team, this was quite impressive: we thought we would lose all our games.

I have realized, after this event, that I like playing football. I was expecting myself to hate these four games, but actually, I really enjoyed it. I even hurt myself in the last game; however, that made no difference for my newly acquired love for the game.

Now, I have decided that next Goal-a-thon, which will be in my final year at Woodstock, I will play harder and enjoy every second of it.

Edited by Dhrubhagat Singh.