End of 1st Football Season
Reflections on U7s Football team
At no time, was I a true believer.
No matter how hard I tried; I’ve never been a genuine football fan of any club. And trust me, I have tried.
The closest I came to being an addict of any sort was many many moons ago when Didier Drogba was tormenting West London with his yam legs and killer goal instincts. This was also the same time England got introduced to the self-styled special one – Mourinho.
However, even though I gave up supporting Chelsea rather quickly (my weak heart couldn’t take any more heartbreaks), becoming a dad of a son who loves to play football has spurred the beginning of a new relationship with the beautiful game. As it happens, I have an additional role as one of his coaches. And like any other coach, automatically, I have a front-row view to the ups and downs that invariably comes with team sports.
Recently, we wrapped up the first season for Hitchin Town U7s Vikings team. And my experience has been the perfect tonic to shake me out of the writer’s block that’s been an insurmountable wall over the last few months.
It’s probably provided me with more insights on how I’m evolving as a person.
Matches & Competitions:
Generally, don’t look for me on a Saturday morning.
Or at least from September 8th to March 31st when Vikings are in action in the Royston Crow League. All our home matches are held in Hitchin’s North Herts College grounds. For away games, those usually happen in neighbouring towns of Letchworth, Stevenage, and Royston. Irrespective of the venue, the games are conducted under the FA 5v5 rules (for the U7s age group), with total playing minutes of 40 minutes. At this level, it’s all about development football and non-competitive (e.g. results are not published).
On completion of the season, we took part in the following competitions:
- Royston Crow League Tournament 5th May (qtr. finalist)
- Dunstable Tournament 1st June (winners)
- Wisbech Tournament 8th June (knocked out in group stage)
- Royston Tournament 30th June (winners)
It’s weird to think about it this way, but I can’t quite process that I’ve got a standing commitment in my calendar on Saturday mornings. At least for the foreseeable future.
Match Day Traditions:
Then all the little rituals habitually come from making so many trips together every weekend. On our drive to matches, we listen to a lot of Nigerian music (Mr.Eazi’s ‘Lagos to London’ album was a clear favourite). Packed lunch & water bottle are must haves. And after every match, there’s the obligatory question; ‘on a scale of 1 to 10, what would you score my performance’?
Vikings is a pretty decent team and tend to win a lot of matches. But even we lose, the lads like most 7yr olds quickly forget about the defeat. Then it’s on to talk about random stuff like Pokémon.
Form
One interesting thing about watching your son or daughter is that you’re most likely to be their biggest cheerleader/critic. For instance, I think Zach is by no means the best. He dribbles too much and for some strange reason, he’s allergic to passing to his teammates. But he’s fast, strong and plays with natural ability (and a touch of arrogance). Like he’s saying; you wouldn’t believe what I’m going to do next.
I love watching him.
I also understand why a lot of parents do this. There’s something special about watching your child compete. It feels like you’re joining them on an emotional roller coaster (thankfully without the physical aspect of running around chasing a ball).
Now that the season is over, I can look forward to my Guinness in peace.
