Lessons I have learnt from football, with random photos

4 years ago, I had never been to a football match (or, for that matter, any sporting match).

Although my Dad follows the AFL, his team isn't a Western Australian one, and football was something that was on the TV rather than something we went to.

And then I met Mr Bite.

                                          

Whilst he doesn't usually attend AFL games, he does support one of the local WAFL teams. And by support, I mean that he goes to every game his team, Claremont, plays during the football season.

When we started going out, I started going along. I had no clue about the football. I didn't know the players or the rules, and when we kicked the ball at half-time (one of the features of WAFL games, along with sitting on grassy banks rather than hard chairs), I was anxious about embarrassing myself irredeemably in front of him or his brother.

No one wants to be looked at like this.

Over time, though, I started to enjoy the game in its own right. I started to learn the rules (sort of). I now know quite a few of the players. I care about whether or not Claremont wins. I am capable of getting quite caught up in the adrenalin that a close game brings.

I have also discovered that having 2 - 3 hours of "nothing" time is incredibly freeing. Because 4 years ago, I wouldn't have sat at a football match for 2 hours either, or if I did, I'd have been worrying about all the other things I could and 'should' be doing instead (I was doing my PhD at that time).

Never doing nothing can make your head spin. See?

Last year, Claremont made it into the WAFL grand final. We attended, of course, even though it meant we had to sit on AFL quality plastic chairs.

The supporters of the opposition riled me in a way I would never have thought possible. I wanted to kick the chair of the woman in front of me, who seemed to take great delight in swearing at our players, and the umpire, and any one else who didn't please her.

When we lost by 1 point, I was disappointed. And in the final minutes of the game, my heart was beating faster than it does on some of my runs.

It seems that in grand finals, my sympathetic nervous system likes to do this.

This year, my attendance at games has slackened a little. Living in the same house as Mr Bite means that I get to see him every day, and football has thus lost one of its drawcards. But I do still go most weeks, and I do still enjoy it.

We're in the grand final again this year, playing in just over a week. This year, however, I won't be going. One of my closest university friends is pregnant with her first child, and her baby shower is on the same afternoon. Whilst I don't fully grasp the concept of a baby shower (surely one should wait for the baby before celebrating it properly?), I will, of course, be attending that and not the football.

The point of this ramble? Well, the twinge of disappointment I feel at not being able to go to the final game, and the contrast with my lack of interest 4 years ago, has made me realise that I've learnt quite a lot from my attendance at sporting matches.

Truly.

Lessons I have learnt from football

1. If you are prepared to sit in the cold and/or rain for 2 hours, to watch a game you don't fully understand, you probably like the person you are sitting with rather a lot.

2. Doing "nothing" for 2 hours is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.

3. There is fun to be had in sport (I know this is not news for most people!).

4. Even if you're hopeless at sport, you can still take part. And if you're lucky, the people you are playing with will pretend that you're not as bad as you are.

If they don't, you should probably play with someone else.

5. Supporting a team means that you support them whether they win or lose. This applies to individual people too.

6. Never kick the chair of someone who swears at umpires. Or swears loudly in public. Or who you don't know. Never kick the chair of anyone.

7. Friends come before football.

8. Even though friends come before football, it's ok to wish, just a little, that their baby showers fell on different days to grand finals.

Source

Do you follow any sports, or attend any games? 


Or can you explain the concept of a baby shower to me?!



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