Description

My first football at the Drew's place

Last summer, I was texting with a guy named Drew, and he mentioned that he regularly organizes football games at his place. At the time, I was a bit confused: did he actually have a football field at his house? I mean, I have a volleyball court at mine, which could technically be used for soccer, but only for a small 3-on-3 game at best.

This winter, I finally had the chance to visit and see it for myself. And yes, he really does have a football field in his backyard. His setup is impressive: besides the football field, he has a tennis court, a swimming pool, plenty of trees, and even a small guesthouse. It turns out the area used to be an orchard, but he trimmed it down to create the football field.

Beyond the wall of his property, there is a canal. Tall trees have been planted near the fence to prevent the ball from ending up in the water. I believe I once ran a race there, though I am not entirely sure, as I am not very familiar with this part of town.

Note

There were three teams: white, black, and yellow. The yellow team turned out to be my teammates from the D-1 team, wearing bright yellow jerseys. This meant there were many familiar faces, which was great.

I played for the white team, and the game was organized as follows: two teams played while one rested. The team that won within ten minutes or scored two goals continued playing while the resting team replaced the losing team. In case of a tie, the team that had been on the field longer went to rest.

A team had to keep winning to stay on the field, except for the first game, where a tie was enough. In the first match, I was just looking around, but in the second, a Serbian player passed me the ball, and I scored my first goal. Since then our team went on a winning streak, only leaving the field when another team managed to tie with us. In some games, I scored two goals in a row, which meant an immediate victory. In total, I scored six goals, not bad for the first time. Zach played well, too, scoring a few goals and, to my surprise, also making good passes.

Only the black and white teams remained when one team left, playing for three winning goals. Zach scored the first two, and I secured the final 3-0 with a shot off the post. That marked the end of the game, and I was relieved because, at 9:30 PM, it was freezing outside. It was good that we kept playing without long breaks, as resting near the field would have made me even colder. The next day, I did not feel particularly well due to the cold, so I had to take a rest.