It's been six years (or so) since I quit soccer. I recently started reminiscing about it when Tyler and I were talking and he said, "You know, if I ever have a kid, and they play hockey, I'm not going to make them play during the summer." It spiked my curiosity and he said "It's just too much, you have to give the kid a break. Put them in another sport, but don't make them go to camps or anything." (Apparently Wayne Gretsky said that.) And that got me thinking about soccer. My year consisted of outdoor soccer May - October. Soccer camps in the summer. Provincial team practices. Premier team practices. Indoor soccer. And when I wasn't doing that, I'd be at the gym in the racquet ball courts kicking a ball against the wall. Why? Well, I couldn't really tell you. Eventually I said fuck it to the provincial team. The main reason why I liked soccer so much was the girls I played with. But on the provincial team, I didn't lik
e anyone, other than my other teammates from Premier. That eased up the pressure placed on me. But, I can't help but think that if I had just played premier, avoided everything else, I might still enjoy it. But now, I can't even think about kicking a ball around. It doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've been asked to play senior women, but I have absolutely no desire to. And that's kind of sad. It's like when you eat too much of the same thing and you can't stand it anymore. That's what soccer's like to me. I do blame my Dad for some of those feelings. I mean, he was my coach and pushed me into all of these things. I remember one time we were in a summer tournament, we had an hour warm up before the game even began. Before everyone got there we'd get in a circle and play 'keepie-up.' I wasn't totally into it at the beginning, just passing the ball off quickly. I don't remember if I was tired (probably was) or what was going through my head at the time, but I was slow to get into it. Well, he didn't like that. He kicked the ball at me, harder than necessary. That moment, I snapped. My eyes just welled up with tears and I stormed off to the parents side and sat there, refusing to play the game. That began the great downfall. We lost the provincial championship that year, didn't go to nationals, and that September we all got together and decided not to continue into the winter. That was it. It was over.
