Many friends of mine have brought it to my attention that I'm a people pleaser. Sometimes and grin and nod, and just listen to what people have to say, other times I'll go out of my way to do something for people who I love and respect, or... it's just too plain hard to say no.
In this case, though, I found it hard to say no to myself, so now I find myself playing on both the Rugby and Football (to Americans...Soccer) teams for New College.
I first wanted to do Rugby so I could participate in an activity that is very "British". It's been a great learning experience, I really enjoy it so far, not to mention I get to play with a great group of girls and really feel a part of Oxford student life. Today was our first set of games together at the Touch-Cuppers College Rugby Tournament at the Exeter sports grounds, and boy was it a tiring day! First and foremost, I was impressed how well we came together as a team and actually played good & challenging matches. After two practices, we had only learned the techniques and basic rules and never really worked together before. Today's tournament was a great turning point for us all though, and we realized how much of a chance we really could have in winning the next tournament in November. At the end of today, the New College girls barely came in fifth out of ten teams, just missing the semi-finals. The next step is learning coordinated plays, setting them in motion, and learning more physical defense, not to mention perfecting our passing and tackling skills. All in all, today was quite satisfying and I look forward to what I have to report next!
Second, I mentioned above how "I can't say no", well that's where the football comes in. In case you already didn't know, football/soccer is my athletic passion, and when in the heat of the game, I'd live, die and even sacrifice my body for the sport. I know it sounds a little intense or even extreme for me, but that's just how my mind works when I get caught up in the game. (For future reference, I will call soccer, football, because that is it's true and original name, but its also what I've grown used to over here.) So that's where the "no" part comes in, I couldn't resist playing football while over here, and now I find my self doing two sports, two tutorials, and too much socializing. It's a nice balance, though, and I'm going to really miss all this energetic activity when I return to the 'dale.
So I officially began football yesterday. Funny thing, I literally joined the team as they were walking towards the pitch for a match. It all began when I crossed the street to say hello to Lydia, an OSAP friend. In conversation, I found out they were short a player, simply changed direction and joined the team. My exhaustion from two previous hours of Rugby practice seemed to vanish at the thought of playing soccer, and I never felt so welcomed to join a team at the last second.
It was New College's first game of the season and we played Magdalene College. It was your stereotypical football movie scenario. We looked so rag-tag with mismatched uniforms and equipment, all straggling in at various times and never had a practice all together, whereas Magdalene looked so professional and experienced, even their players physically looked like pro-athletes. It turned out to be one of those incredible underdog stories, in a way, and despite all our flaws we won the game 7 to nihl. I played keeper the entire game, and loved every single second of it. Not gonna deny it either, but I had some pretty good saves. One was a glorious slide that just barely knocked out a penalty kick on me. But a team does not win with just one player, and I came away thoroughly impressed with how the rest of the team brought things together. They exhibited great passing and teamwork; a great start to the beginning of a season. I also look forward to acquainting myself with my teammates more. The Rugby girls are a wonderful group but we're actually half English, half American. My fellow ladies of the New College football team however, come from far and wide: three Americans (including me), one Kiwi (New Zealand), one graduate student from South Africa, and the rest all from parts of the United Kingdom. I think we all hit it off really well as a team primarily because we share the same priority, that is, to keep alive the love of the game and have fun playing. So enough of my passionate ramblings, now that my weekend of sporting is over, it's time to return to the books.
All the Best,
Lindsay