When I was in elementary school I played soccer and was fairly good at it too. I was a fast runner and great both at chasing the ball and occasionally tricking the other team by kicking it backwards. I lost interest in soccer after a while, only wanting to attend the games instead of practices, and stopped playing.
Years later, I attempted to pick it up again. My siblings and I all went to play homeschool soccer, and there were over a hundred kids in different age groups. I was 13 or so, and I was placed in the 13 and up group. This wasn't soccer like I had played it in elementary school. The ball looked like it could kill. The kids were big and scary. They ran fast and fought for the ball and even head-butted it. (Who would do that?) Some of them were even playing …show more content…
I barely made it through the warm-ups, and wasn't good for much during the game. Except—hear this. There were two twin girls on the team, and I think they were the only twins there. My first (casual) game, during some of the few times I had the ball, I managed to accidentally kick the ball into one of the twins' stomach and then I (also accidentally) hit the other twin in the head. That made me feel really bad. I didn't play soccer there for long.
My reference group in this situation was the group of mostly older kids playing soccer. They were really friendly and understanding, but I was totally intimidated by them and felt very much out of place. Regardless of how friendly they were, my inability seemed painfully obvious to me and I felt incompetent and generally not awesome. My fleeting reaction was to feel badly about myself and embarrassed, whereas my long-term reaction is to admire sports from a distance and not try to compete seriously. I still think my soccer misfortunes are amusing
Years later, I attempted to pick it up again. My siblings and I all went to play homeschool soccer, and there were over a hundred kids in different age groups. I was 13 or so, and I was placed in the 13 and up group. This wasn't soccer like I had played it in elementary school. The ball looked like it could kill. The kids were big and scary. They ran fast and fought for the ball and even head-butted it. (Who would do that?) Some of them were even playing …show more content…
I barely made it through the warm-ups, and wasn't good for much during the game. Except—hear this. There were two twin girls on the team, and I think they were the only twins there. My first (casual) game, during some of the few times I had the ball, I managed to accidentally kick the ball into one of the twins' stomach and then I (also accidentally) hit the other twin in the head. That made me feel really bad. I didn't play soccer there for long.
My reference group in this situation was the group of mostly older kids playing soccer. They were really friendly and understanding, but I was totally intimidated by them and felt very much out of place. Regardless of how friendly they were, my inability seemed painfully obvious to me and I felt incompetent and generally not awesome. My fleeting reaction was to feel badly about myself and embarrassed, whereas my long-term reaction is to admire sports from a distance and not try to compete seriously. I still think my soccer misfortunes are amusing