Tag Archives: football

The third goal

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Cruyff speaks, we listen.

The third goal yesterday was a stand out moment for our football team.

I’ve been banging on about putting passes together, keeping the ball. The clock was ticking. It looked like we would miss out on the points again. The final substitutions had been made.

We got the break from a 50/50 challenge in the middle of the pitch and the ball suddenly started moving from back to front, one player to another to another, then finally at our striker’s feet.

She swings a big right foot at it and the net bulges. It was never missing.

I was pleased and proud of what just happened because the simplicity of the move made it so effective.

There was nothing fancy. The ball just went from player to player in maybe five passes max, and the finish was excellent, but it all came from passes.

The whole game is about making passes – executing on the most basic of skills. The team that does it the most wins most of the time.

The work will carry on. The weeks we play badly will be when we don’t execute on our plans and the frustration mounts as mistakes take over.

But when that plan comes together and the ball hits the back of the net at the end of a move as sweet as the one we delivered yesterday, there will be no frustration. We’ll be winning.

Get past fear and find time for growth

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Coogee United O30’s v Randwick City, April 2024

Stuff that’s scary, like hitting ‘publish’ on a deep, dark post that comes from the very depths of our souls, fills us with fear. The imposter jumps out on us, screaming that we’ll be ‘found out’, that our stuff is ‘nonsense’, and that nobody’s going to read it no matter how cool we think it is.

We moan about having no time. “If only I had the discipline…” must be said by so many wannabe writers and creatives. Our handheld procrastination device, full of the stuff we don’t need, pinging at us when it needs attention, is always by our side.

It’s no wonder we rarely act on that desire to do that ‘thing’.

I used to read Julien Smith’s blog in the early 00’s when I lived in the US. This particular post caught my attention as I sat at a big desk in a bigger office, bored out of my tiny mind. I printed it out. (The image of the horse jumping from the balcony has always stayed with me.)

I’ve referred back to it, and a few of his other ‘slaps to the face’, when I’ve caught myself navel gazing, feeling stuck. At the core of it is the fact that we all worry too much what other people think, and that the sooner we act on what we believe is right through telling the truth, OUR truth, a new chapter begins.

And this is the point here – whatever your ‘thing’ is, get into action by getting past your fear and start delivering.

What’s the worst thing that could happen? You could actually be good at it, people could like it and it could work out brilliantly.

This isn’t likely to be the case – let’s get real here – but the best had to start somewhere. And you do, too.

My time is tight. A full-on job plus part time study. I run or work out daily and fit golf in whenever the study slows down. I have a stack of unread books that grows weekly.

I wanted to take things out rather than add anything new, but the opportunity to coach a women’s soccer team came up, so I took the plunge and it’s a lot of fun.

I’m also inspired to write again (thanks Dr Taylor!) and deliver with consistency – the piece of the puzzle that, for me, remains elusive. But it’s far from impossible.

Let’s put it to the test.

Next stop – @homelesswrldcup Rio De Janeiro

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Later this week @ninianna and I will be travelling to Rio to witness the spectacle that is the Homeless World Cup street soccer tournament, taking place on Copacabana Beach. I’ve completed a few sporting challenges of my own this year, raising funds for the HWC by way of many generous donations from all of my great friends, and this trip to see what the funds I have raised can do for the people taking part in the tournament is going to be a very special occasion.

I wanted to help HWC by raising funds because they inspire and empower people – giving those with little or no hope a real chance of changing their lives for the better through taking part in the tournament, playing street soccer, and representing their nation on the global stage. Having the opportunity to see this kind of project in action, and the difference that it can make at first hand, is something that doesn’t happen every day and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

Just imagine going through these steps over the course of a few months:

  • you are homeless (living on the streets or are in temporary housing or a hostel, for example) and you are asked if you would like to come and play soccer one evening
  • you turn up, play, and meet some new people who become your friends and team mates
  • you come back for more, week after week, have a lot of fun and begin to get fitter
  • you are picked to play for your team in a regional/national tournament
  • you do well, and are selected for the national team to represent your country at the HWC
  • you are wearing your national team’s colours and are playing in the HWC tournament
  • you are in with a shout of a trophy on finals weekend of the HWC
  • you are playing in the final of the HWC
  • you are in the winning team of the HWC!!!

This scenario is going to come true for some of the players in Rio this week – how fantastic is that?! I’m sure I don’t do this transformation justice in this small post but it happens and will keep happening as long as the tournament continues and people support the cause. Mel Young and the team at HWC do a fantastic job in putting the tournament on in the face of a lot of opposition and bureaucracy related the homelessness cause, but their work is invaluable and long may it continue.

I want to share my experiences of the event with as many people as I can so there will plenty of tweets, a few photos and some video clips, too. Follow me here, or the HWC and Mel Young: