Brushing off the 'ol Soccer Skills

Upon committing to serve a year for Grassroot Soccer, I was fully aware that soccer would most likely come charging back in my life. Although I am working in the finance office and do not go out to the field to play with the Program's Team, soccer is life here in South Africa. Plus, most people that work for GRS love playing soccer too. Having grown up playing Barrington Youth Soccer in the fall and East Bay competitive league in the spring, then winning New Englands with the Tabor Girls Soccer Team in High School, I have definitely had my fair share of soccer. Thus, when I was informed we would be having an inter-GRS soccer scrimmage every Sunday, I was at first very nervous. Would I totally embarrass myself with my rusty soccer skills? What if everyone is so much better than me?

All these worries were useless though because as 4 pm rolled around on Sunday afternoon, I was filled with excitement. Who cares if I wasn't any good...it would at least be fun to get outside and run around a bit! My roommates and I headed up the hill behind our house and arrived five minutes later at a mini-turf field in our neighborhood. We were greeted by fellow employees Hooter and Talia and two of their friends who would be joining us. Our senior bookkeeper, Vernon, showed up a few minutes later, shoeless, but ready to show off his 60-year old veteran skills.

I did some quick warm-up touches on the ball and the game began! What a blast the game was! We played 5 v 5 for over an hour a half! I even managed to score a few goals for me team! It felt so great to be running around and brushing off my old, rusty, Tabor Soccer skills. A lot of it came back so much more naturally than i thought! Plus, it helps when the view form the field is overlooking table mountain to the left and the sun setting over Lion's Head to your right. Not too bad! Everyone was pretty exhausted when we finally called the game. Nevertheless, we all had huge smiles on our faces and were so glad to have made it out here despite our fears and worries! I can't even remember which team actually took home the win...that's how much fun the game was...just playing for the love of soccer. Such a wonderful time! I'm already really looking forward to next Sunday's match!

Walking home with my five roommates and my arm draped over my roomy's shoulder, I couldn't think of a better way to have spent my Sunday afternoon. I felt so lucky being here with wonderful people, having lots of fun, and taking in the beauty of Cape Town. As the sun slowly set behind us coloring the sky red, we approached our Gordon Street House with smiles and laughter. Another fabulous day accounted for.