The (Un)enjoyment of Soccer: Tales From Abroad
Brooklyn Bridge ParkCredit: Julienne Schaer.
The (Un)enjoyment of Soccer: Tales From Abroad
Earlier today, I had a good lunch of Wantan Mee and ais kosong with a good friend of mine, all the way from North America, the human being, who I consistently quote on Twitter, the ‘soccer coach’. Who is back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a short visit before heading off again, continuing his tour of South East Asia. During lunch, we exchanged stories about our respective soccer/football social initiative. Just to note, this particular friend of mine, is one of the reasons why I am developing and organizing social football sessions with the passion to improve social progress.
During lunch, of maybe 2 hours of mostly exchanging experiences than eating Wantan Mee. He shared several insightful verbal anthologies. One of them is about the enjoyment and unenjoyment of soccer, especially in the recreational soccer community that he is a part of, as a conductor. He started to be involved with the recreational soccer community because he wanted to take a break from being a sports coach for a high school that he attended as a teenager many years ago. Presently still greatly involved with the recreational soccer community for nearly 8 years, noted that
“You can develop so much improvement for a community by introducing activities that bring people together, in this case, soccer. And from there, sincere initiatives from within and outside the social circle emerges to complement with each other to the greater ecosystem. That harmonizes the community. However, however, however, the development will face a number of situations (or troubleshooting) that will either make the community stronger or weaken it. It takes great wisdom, compassionate understanding, effective communication and strong leadership to build something greater than ourselves.”
You can see why I enjoy meeting with my friend when he is around town for a visit. The wealth of insight exchanged, priceless.
The unenjoyment of soccer. During development of building a sports soccer community. There are those within the community who conspires and isolates, seemingly ‘weak’ recreational players during pick up sessions, not passing the ball to him or her, because to them those players are inferior. Participants who deem others inferior. Must step forward and honestly share their actual objectives when playing the sport with the community. Because the moment a click conspires against the weak, the weak will lose the love of soccer.
“Look onto yourself, when you become the reason why he or she quits recreational soccer, if you don’t have the slightest guilt, professional soccer is just around the corner, and I wish you the best. Recreational soccer is there for a reason. Professional soccer is there for a reason. In a recreational soccer community, don’t be a star, be a teammate.”
He noted that these are the troubleshooting that will happen in every community that wants to build a recreational community be it soccer, basketball, dungeons and dragons, and so on. It is up to the people who founded that community to ensure that these situations are dealt with, by being honest towards each other as adults. Present good examples, so that everyone else can pick it up, especially those who may be feeling a bit guilty,
“There will be some who are guilty about showing their love for the game, in a way that puts some people off. The guilty can redeem him or herself by allowing themselves to be more understanding and compassionate towards the people they intentionally or unintentionally hurt with their aggressive love. They need to recognize and reconcile before it is too late, be it with spoken words, or action. Ideally, better with both. As compassion is a virtue to be cultivated, not a weakness to be despised.”
He noted that, when this troubleshooting happens, be prepared for anything. There are those who left the community, there are those who stayed on with the community, there are those who left the community who came back wanting to be better, there are those who stayed on who eventually exploded due to lack of communication and trust, and various outcomes. What is important that he noted is the constant communication of the objective of wanting something in common. In his, and his community's case is to build something bigger than themselves. A community that develops, healthy living, embrace diversity and puts a smile on everyone's face after each pick up session. Because they have achieved a real objective for themselves first, through the community’s sincere assistance. To which amplify the strength and bonding of the community, that harmonizes it.
There are more experiences to share, however, this will do it for now.