I went to a Real SLC game on Saturday. It was fun. I love soccer. I love watching it and I love playing it!
The Bad:
Real lost. It poured like no other at the game. By the time I got back to my car I felt like I had jumped into a swimming pool.
The Ugly:
This story is going to get real ugly. So bare with me...I had a moment on Saturday that made me cry it was just so ugly.
The story goes like this: I am on an outdoor soccer league and we play Saturday mornings. We were playing this team on Saturday and they were real rough. I recognized one the girls as a girl I've played before that I would describe as a brat. So I was defending this girl and she was being real pushy. So I sorta shoved her back pretty obvious so she'd get off me, and the ref did not call it. So she said some lovely words to me that definitely deserved a yellow card.
Next time she and I were up against each other I could tell she had a vengeance against me. We were both going after the ball and she started pushing me real badly. The ref still did not call anything. So I kinda egged her on by saying, "Oh you want to play this way...I can play this was too." Bad idea. She started elbowing me and then....get ready for this...SCRATCHING me. I had a claw marks on my arm. It was ridiculous. The ref still called nothing. I felt like I was being attacked and I'm pretty sure if I let her she'd pull my hair like that New Mexico girl did. Finally I got the ball away from both of us...and at that point she purposely tripped me.
Ya that is when the ref called it. I was flat on the ground, stood up and yelled at the ref, "Something needed to be called waaay before that...I can't play like this." I ran off the field.
So those are the facts of the story. Am I proud of what I did and what happened? No. I was off the field the rest of the game in tears. Mostly because I realized how mean I became, and I also felt like justice wasn't served to that girl. Why did I let her get to me like that? Why did I push her back? I thought maybe she'd get off me, but instead she came back with claws...literally.
So the rest of the morning I was pondering about that whole situation. My conclusion: I failed at being Christlike. When people hit, spat and yelled at Christ...did he do anything back? No. He knew that they did not know better. That girl probably did not grow up in a happy home. She probably doesn't have the gospel. I feel bad that a soccer game would mean so much to her that she was willing to almost draw blood for it. I could've been better. I could've let the pushing in the first place go. I've decided to try to control my temper better when I'm on the field. It is hard when the adrenaline is pumping and things like that happen. I know I could have handle this all better...and I wouldn't be left with such a yucky feeling in my gut.
Soccer is fun for me, and that is why I play. In that moment soccer was no fun at all. My goal is to always have fun, and if someone wants to push me I will just laugh and continue to enjoy the game.
