Never to old to be ‘red carded’
Reasons for Playing Walking Football
So why do we all turn up and enjoy playing Walking Football twice a week. Well here are a few alternate reasons that apply to me:
- Conversation while I visit the “Hair Salon” – Like many, following the retirement of Cyril who used to provide a quick short back and sides followed by a good dollop of Brylcream no matter what you style you asked for, I shifted my custom to the “Salon” and a female hairstylist (barber). The college training course obviously involves training for the young ladies on how to engage customers in conversations. The process always begins with, “Are you doing anything exciting this week?” So now instead of the usual……..No, not really…….Going for a walk…..Cutting the grass .NO! I can say actually I am playing in a top class Football Tournament sometimes over the other side of the country.
- It helps slow down the onset of dementia – Every week there are thirty or forty other players down there and they have all got a name. The mental sharpness to put a name to forty different faces is keeping my mind active. I haven’t quite got all the names yet so revert to do a Trigger by using Dave for anyone I am not sure about.
- Being able to see the shock on the faces of the staff at Sports Direct – The delight I get from the reaction of the lad or lass threading the trainers in Sports Direct when I go in and interrupt them by asking for a new pair of astro-turf trainers that will last me at least five years despite the fact I am well past sixty. TO PLAY FOOTBALL IN……….The surprise on their face that suggests they are not sure whether I will last as long as the trainers.
- The Post–Match Analysis – It so good to sit down in the club house after the game with a coffee and dissect every player’s performance one by one. No-one is exempt from criticism even with a doctor’s note. I have missed this male activity for too many years to mention. It is a tradition that pre-dates history and even Pro Stats on the computer. Football is a game of opinions and it is great to be able to share them again.
- Extracting the Michael – As you stand on the pitch with the game going on around you, it is possible to switch off and get on with the important things. You have an hour to hone your skills as an alternate comedian so you need to concentrate, not on the football, but on making up really funny one liners about the ability of the other players. It helps if you have a pencil and paper to write them down as they come to you because you can forget some classics if you try to keep them in your head. Then head for the coffee to use them.
- The Walking Food was fantasy this more – As I still try to master the use of my low tech mobile phone The Walking Football was fantastic this morning is helping me come to terms with the invention of predictive text. But for now the message in bold is the one I can manage to send to all the contacts on my phone……….all be it that my Gas Supplier didn’t really want to know about the Walking Food.
- My GP, Blood Pressure Tablets and me – Walking Football is helping me get the upper hand with my doctor about whether the Blood Pressure Tablets he is prescribing for me are not worth the side effects. Losing weight and taking exercise are working better than growing an extra head.
- Interest in the Wider World – I now watch Look North and Countryfile every Sunday, and Wednesday to check on weather conditions the next days football. The Walking Football is widening my horizons………I have even been to Rochdale !
- The Messi Moment – Once in a while during the Football matches something special happens for you…………….a nutmeg…………..a dribble (not from the mouth)………a shot………a defence splitting pass…….a soaring header or whatever floats your boat. The Grimsby Messi that is !
- Disbelief…………..That at the age of sixty plus I am still competitively playing the game that has played such a big part in my life. I really look forward to my football after assuming my playing days were over.
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