Match called off due
to rain
I can’t pretend to be disappointed that this one was
cancelled as I wasn’t down to play anyway; I’d opted to play football as my
team had a cup final the same afternoon.
As it turned out I was an unused substitute so all I’d done in effect
was to give up not playing cricket for the chance to not play football instead. And then we lost the cup final, in apocalyptic
rain, so what a brilliant day that was.
Incidentally, this summer brings an end to my mediocre
footballing career. I’m retiring from
the Saturday league after four hugely enjoyable seasons (and one memorable
goal) with Brookside St Laurence, an immensely talented group who somehow managed
to achieve top 3 finishes every year despite never training together. The fact is, at 35, I’m starting to feel off
the pace, a bit of a liability – my fear of making a catastrophic error now far
outweighs any anticipation of doing something amazing. I’m by no means unfit (I’m training to run a
marathon in October) but I never had that much talent to begin with and if I
lose any more sharpness they might as well replace me with a wheelie bin.
I’m the oldest player in the team, I’ve got used to
that. I may not be completely useless
but I’m not first choice for any position.
I’m still capable of doing a limited kind of job in the right
circumstances, and no one doubts my willingness for the team to succeed.
Basically, I’m Ken.
I’m the Ken Stewart of my football team.
At the time of writing I have one last league game still to
play then I’ll cast the football boots aside and turn instead to my running
shoes. They say you know when it’s time
to go, and I’ve realised for a little while now that I look forward to a long,
gentle run down the towpath a lot more than I relish the thought of trying to
stop teenagers scoring goals. There’s a
kid in our league I used to babysit – he got married last year. One of our players was born in 1998 for
crying out loud. Being around these
people is bound to make me feel old.
I don’t worry though.
If I ever want to feel young and athletic again I simply turn up and
play for RUASCC.
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