Play On!

“I can keep myself involved in a good activity instead of keeping quiet, because if I sit alone and be quiet, I will think about my problem.”

— Victor Musa, captain of the Sierra Leone amputee soccer team.

One of my favorite moments in a soccer match occurs when a hard challenge is issued, followed by the resounding thud of a defender colliding with an attacker. In those milliseconds following, all eyes focus on the center ref who must decide in an instant if the tackle was fair or foul. My heart usually races a little when I hear the cry issuing forth above the fray–“Play on!”

Play on–through fair and foul, for better or worse, richer or poorer. For Number Three Son last Labor Day, it was more than just the usual collision as he lay wounded with a fractured tibia following what was probably a game-saving tackle. Recovery has been long–longer than we first expected–but I’m pleased to report that he’s back on the pitch and slowly recovering his old form. His match fitness and touch have suffered, but he’s playing in a local middle school league this spring and will resume more serious training with his club in a couple of weeks. It’s good to see him back out there, and I have no doubt that he’ll soon be the feared defender that he once was prior to his injury in Atlanta last September.

Of course, everything is relative. For some, it’s not a matter of a broken limb so much as it is a lost one. If you go here, you can scroll through some photos of some never-say-quit African footballers, most of whom have lost legs in the various civil wars scattered across that continent (H/T GKB). As you can see, they have their own way of crying “Play on!” in the midst of less than ideal circumstances.

Number Three was intrigued by the idea of playing with crutches and wondered how one might be able to use them to gain an advantage over those cocky, prima donna strikers with weird haircuts and hot pink boots who are always getting on his nerves (once a defender, always a defender).

I was inspired by these players and their persistence. The images of courage personified made me think twice about moaning over my latest nickel and dime “old man injury” that I’m always accumulating while running or the constant fatigue that I battle as a byproduct of my overscheduled, white collar life.

In fact, they made my heart race a little as I heard the cry of “Play on!” issuing forth above the fray.