AFL was built on the premise of achieving a professional contract and showing others that suffer from chronic disease that they too can accomplish something that seemed out of their reach. Yet, as the days turn into weeks, and the weeks into months, I can’t help but thinking about a deeper meaning to what I am doing. I began to ask myself questions such as, “Why does it have to be a professional league?” or “Will I be happy once I hit the pro’s or is there going to be a next step?” These questions all led me to intrinsic searching. Why was I doing what I was doing? It took a couple weeks but eventually I found my answer.
To start, I think we need to take a closer look at professional sports. As a kid, most of us think, “how could would it be to play sports for a living?” But, just like when we think of rockstars, we often forget about all the little things like the constant travel, the constant stress and pressure, the media, etc. This train of thought got me thinking further. Is it the professional sports that has me hooked or is it just the idea of playing sports for the rest of my life that is most important? Do I care about lifting that Championship Trophy at the highest level, or just at any level? And then things went further. Does AFL still exist without my quest for professional level athletics or does it get stronger by my statement of saying screw pro sports, let’s just play. Around and around these questions swirled in my head, and then I remembered something I heard on a podcast a few months ago.
The podcast was the Coaching Manual Podcast based around soccer. The guest was Guillem Balague, who had written a book on Messi and his path to professional sports. One thing stuck out, and that is when Guillem stressed that Messi, and players of his caliber, just have a genuine love of the game and an appreciation for it. It wasn’t that their sole purpose was to be a professional football star, but rather it was just about playing, and learning the game to the best of their ability. I played this idea over and over in my head. I soon realized, ya that’s it, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s not a professional contract that I’m after. What I have been after this whole time was a sole reason to play the game, a sole reason to move and be athletic. It was this combined with an avid appreciation for the game of soccer that has driven me to the level I have become obsessed with.
Let’s go deeper down the rabbit hole. So what about AFL? Where does that leave this? The answer is simply better off than it has ever been before! Take a quest for professional soccer out of AFL and you get the same thing I’ve been chasing the whole time: The use of movement as treatment and preventative methods to chronic disease; a way to bring chronic disease sufferers together; the building of a community unlike any other. And AFL stands strong. So let’s dive into athletic passion!
Now that I can safely say that a pro contract does not determine my self-worth, what does this say about my sport involvement? The answer lies in the fact that now I truly play for something worth playing for: myself and my health. I play simply because I love sports and sports provides me with my escape. To me, that local league championship is my Champion’s League; my Intramural team is my way to victory. It’s not the actual trophy that matters but what it means to you and this can be found at all levels. I think that’s the secret message in it all.
We all have a little Messi, or Buffon, or Ronaldo in us, but it’s just how we play, where we play, and what it means to us. It doesn’t have to be soccer either. Before soccer, I loved hockey, and before hockey it was mixed martial arts. The simple fact of the matter is that movement is the basis in each one and each one of those sports makes up a little piece of who I am. Does that mean I need to be a professional? I don’t think so. But what it does mean is that I enjoy playing and that I find my enjoyment in battling in my local town playoffs and championship. Because to me, that Championship means something. That’s why I play. All health benefits aside, this is where I feel I belong. Now, if my profession so happened to fall alongside sport, that would make life even that much better. But until that happens, I still look forward to every Tuesday where I step onto that court as a normal person, step between my goal posts and battle for the win and 2 points in my journey to win the league!
Note: Image was taken using a google search: https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=MEssi+goal&oq=MEssi+goal&gs_l=img.3..0l10.769.3605.0.4439.10.10.0.0.0.0.114.880.8j2.10.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.10.878.X1n9HO8eTAg#imgrc=j478kXHdxyXE5M%3A