No pain no gain: Feeling the soccer highs and lows

I did it!

I managed to survive my first women’s rec league soccer game last night and live to tell about it.

Boy, I sure am feeling it today.

You would think that playing on a small field wouldn’t be so exhausting, but there’s so much running around, dodging the ball and fighting for it all at the same time. It was a major workout, which was a great part of the game.

We did lose badly to a team that has been playing together for a while. And that definitely showed.

I need to work on getting my head and my feet to talk better to each other. I felt like every time I meant to do one thing, my foot would do another. Better aim and coordination would go a long way. I also am scared of getting hit in the face with the ball so every time it got close I put my hands up — not what you want to be doing in soccer.

I did manage to score a goal, but I should have had another easy one, and missing that was frustrating.

In the end I have a new appreciation for what the kids do on a regular basis — the physical part of the game and the mental aspect as well. The skills they have are impressive.

I’m sore, tired and feeling very inexperienced, but I can’t wait to go back and do it all over again.