Here in Germany, playing football seems to be the most natural thing ever, at least for kids. The German Football Association counts about 7 Million members. In numbers: 7.000.000. Not too bad for a country with roundabout 80M Inhabitants in total, is it? There are almost 25.000 different Football Clubs in Germany - More than 80 just in the city I play in (a city with a population of only 350k).
Against all odds, my childhood happened without ever playing football in a club. Of course, sometimes I played in school, with some friends on the weekend or something like that, but not that often and nevere quiet well. My childhood sports were Athletics and Badminton, which I both did not too bad though. But by the Age of 19, in October 2015, I joined my girfriend's brother in his football training just for fun. And I loved it. From that moment on, I was infected by the football virus. Propably being the only one to ever start playing football at that age, and for sure the worst player of the league this team kicked in, I filled in the formula and became a member by december '15.
My first in-field experience I made in Jan '16 @ a friendly match during preperations for the second half of the season, when the coach sent me in a couple of minutes before the end. I was totally nervous, I think I did not even touch the ball once, but I was somehow proud anyway. 2 months later I played in an important game for the first time, another 4 weeks I later I have been in the starting 11 already (due to the fact that we were just 12 people that day, but okay ;-) ).
Now, almost one and a half year after starting my "football career", I still spend every sunday at the football pitch. I do not play that often, because we had to merge two teams together, which led to a group of 22-25 football loving guys, and unfortunately I seem to be the worst player of them. Nevertheless I belong to the fittest and fastest ones in this team! But that doesn't help on the field that often.
The main reason for this post today is the message I received from my coach recently. I'll try to translate it as good as possible, I just have to share this with somebody:
"Okay my dear. You are one of the first! How does it look like, with you in the next season? I mean this now exactly as I type it: I would love (!) to still have you in the team next season. Your attitude is impeccable, you are willing to learn and an absolute teamplayer. I won't tell something about how often you will play or how many minutes I can give you. I just want to try bringing you forward, if you'd like."
Some might think those are just words. But if you'd know this man, you would know that he means everything he says. He is totally direct and honest, because he can't afford to lie in that position. As a coach of a football team in the low leagues we play in, you just have to tell the truth, no matter how hard it is. And I often received messages in the past months, saying something like "I appreciate your effort in the trainings, but you won't be in the squad for tomorrows game. We have more than enough defenders and you just need more time!". Sentences like these always hit me hard, but I knew how this was going to go. When you join a football team, where the guys are aged 20-38, most of them played football for at least half of their lives. Two of them started playing before I was born! But the messages like the one I received today, for recognition and gratitude I receive sometimes from the head coach, our personal trainer, teammates or even spectators, those are the things I work for every single training. That is the reason why I never skipped a training session, even though it was heavily raining at an outside temperature of 2 degrees Celsius, my birthday or a day before an exam. When everyone of the team gives a hundred percent, I give 110. When everyone goes to his limits, I go further. My parents, my sister and many friends of mine never thought I would play a single game for the first few years in the club. A friend of my girlfriend, against whom we played a couple of weeks ago, must have told his team about me. I played on that day, as a right defender, and almost every single attack of them came over my side. And they did not score a single goal. They may have thought, that I am the worst player in the team. The Achilles tendon. I truly was the worst football player on the field, but that did not stop me from tackling, running, straddling and most of all it did not stop me from standing up again every single time I fell.
So let me tell you: What ever your goals are, in sports especially: Never give up. Not on your dreams, not on your hope. Trust in yourself! And when there is someone who tells you, you can't - show him you can. Whenever someone says: "You're not good enough", there are two possibilities. Either, he is wrong, so you show him, or he is right, so you work harder until he actually is wrong. I am still far away from my goals in playing football, and it will still need thousands of hours of training until I may be good enough to have a good shot or being totally secure with the ball, but I will never stop trying. If 99 shots fail, maybe the 100th is perfect. And if not, maybe no. 200. Or 500. And as long as I did not reach what I wanted to, I will just keep going. Keep trying. Keep working. Focussed, with wide shoulders and my head kept up.
You can fall 10, 100, 1000 or 10.000 times. The important thing is to stand up once more!
Sporty greetings from a sunburned football enthusiast!
CD