September 2009 Update:

Field of Dreams

Home » My Soccer Goal Part I » Part II

 

It's already September 2009. Ten months have passed since I set out on this goalkeeping/goalsetting adventure. In retrospect, what's ten months? Not even a year! But in this short period of time, my life has changed so dramatically that it seems more like ten years have gone by.

I had to go back and read my original story. As I read it over again, it sounded a bit fictional. But what I'm about to write now sounds to me even more far-fetched. (Luckily I've added some photos and a short clip to prove to me that I'm not hallucinating…)

Where were we?

I had just joined a 5th division team as a second-string goalkeeper. Most of my new teammates were in their early 20s. And here comes this old fart jumping out of a dusty closet. How do you even begin to connect?

But that's what's so brilliant about soccer! If you "speak" soccer, nothing else matters. Your age, mentality, culture, background – they are of no consequence. You just get out there on the field like everyone else and play your game.

Within three weeks of training and two games on the bench as the backup goalie, I began to feel very much at home with my new teammates.

Although a 5th division team in Israel may sound like something quite amateurish, it's far from it. Even I was surprised at how professional and passionate people are. There's a really strict practice regiment, you arrive on time, you don't mess around, serious team meetings are held before games, referees, line referees, sometimes even large crowds – it can even get quite stressful at times.

But I must admit that there's something comforting about being a second-string goalkeeper. No pre-game stress. Goalkeepers usually aren't replaced, so you know you're not going to play. Only on very rare occasions does a goalie get hurt or is red carded and has to leave the field. But that just doesn't happen, so I enjoyed the relaxation of being on the bench and not having to cope with the stress of playing.

Until… just three games into my comeback, our goalie got red carded!

It was the very last minute of my third game on the bench. I just gazed in disbelief as the referee threw him out and then I buried my head in my palms. Oh NO! Next week I would make my debut after 20 years I hadn't played in a real game.

I'm going to fast-forward here so this story doesn't go on forever.

The night before the game I was so excited that I barely slept. I'd doze off, dream of me on the field allowing some pitiable goal get by, and then wake up in a startle. Just like a little boy before his first big game.

The next day I made my debut. Here I am:

 

Soccer

My first game after 20 years...

 

I played 40 minutes, kept a clean net, and then something I didn't even dream of happened… I was red-carded and thrown out for touching the ball with my hand outside the box. Pathetic, but at least I didn't get scored on :-)

I went on to play a total of five games throughout the remainder of the season – two wins, one tie and one loss. Before every game I'd get the pre-game jitters. It was a sensation I had completely forgotten. In a way, it was similar to the excitement before going on stage in front of a crowd. After all, a field is like a stage. But on the field, as you'll soon see in the clip below, the excitement is so much stronger and the crowd is so much more emotional that there's really no comparison.

I did discover, though, that my experience on stage helped me deal with the mental aspects of playing the game which is no less important than the physical side (where I am obviously at a disadvantage…)

I was also fortunate to play in our biggest game of the season. I allow myself to say "fortunate" in retrospect. During the long hours before the game and especially during warm-up in front of a crowd of over 2000 (!!) people, I was asking myself: "What the hell am I doing here?!" (We don't usually play in front of such large crowds…)

It was an away game against the first-place team. An Arab team from a city called Taybe. There's always more tension when playing against an Arab team. There's more police presence and the crowd can get pretty riled up. But again, that's also what's so beautiful about soccer. On the field you "speak" a common language and not the violent one that's so often spoken off the field.

This team from Taybe hadn't lost - nor tied – a single game throughout the entire season. I don't think I can begin to explain the sensation of playing on such a "stage". Until a year ago, I never even considered it as a possibility. And there I was, Elad Shippony, on my own field dreams...

But…

Ten minutes into the game I broke my thumb. I immediately felt it snap. Crack! But I guess that my body was so "high" on endorphins, adrenaline or whatever else it is that doesn't make you feel pain, that I just kept my gloves on and continued playing until the end of the game.

We tied 1-1 and I felt as if I had just won the World Cup, World Series and Superbowl all at once :-)

I can't really explain what I felt, so I'll just share with you these few photos and a short clip below:

Soccer

Could This Be Me?

Here's a clip that doesn't do justice to the crazy atmosphere during the game:

 

 

Soccer

For such an experience, I'd break it again. I swear!

 

I'm back to practicing and our season starts next week. I can now say that I play for a 4th division team because one division was cancelled this year :-) My thumb is better now, but my knee is aching :-) I guess that my 39 year-old-body isn't really living in harmony with my 20-year-old dreams. But I tell you with all my heart (and you may think that I'm crazy), but I'd break my thumb over again just to feel that same, blissful sensation.

There's one last thing I'd like to ask of you. Next time you pass by a soccer (baseball, football, etc…) field or park and see a bunch of old farts running after a ball, take an extra glance and remember…

It's probably someone's field of dreams.

 

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Your Comments on my Soccer Goalkeeing / Goalsetting Story

If you've also run into my story somewhere along the line, and it has helped in some way influence you, I'd be very honored to hear about it!

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