I’ll Pass

I’ve never enjoyed watching sports. This distaste started when I was dragged to baseball games as a young child. My parents, friends, and neighbors would buy tickets on the cheapest night of the season, which always seemed to be smack dab in the middle of the summer. We’d leave right as I wanted to watch television and then have a snack before bed. Eight people or so would carpool in my parent’s van down to the stadium. Swarms of people would walk around (and through) us on their way to the stadium. I’m not a big fan of big cities or crowds, so I would naturally get anxious about reaching the game.

Then came sitting in those hard plastic stadium seats. I’d wear shorts given the heat of the summer, and my sweat would cause my bare legs to stick to the seat. There wasn’t anything to do because the attraction was the game. I couldn’t leave my seat and wander around by myself so an adult would have to accompany me, which meant they were missing the game. As such, they’d strongly encourage me to remain seated. I still don’t understand all the rules of baseball to be frank, but at least I have a better understanding than when I was five. I could never seem to follow the ball either. It was so small and it moved so darn quickly. I’m thankful that I wasn’t dragged to many of these sweat sessions. 

The first two sports I enjoyed watching were figure skating and ice dancing during the Winter Olympics; I also enjoyed gymnastics a good bit too. My mom took me to see both live ice dancing and an NCAA gymnastics championship. Though I like watching both of these sports, I never thought that enjoying attending a sporting event would be something I’d truly experience. I loved the grace, poise, and power the athletes in those sports possessed. These were qualities I wished I could personify regularly and channel into my everyday life. 

That recently changed when I attended a high school soccer championship that someone I know had played in. Despite my prior reservations, I ended up having a great time. When we got there it was starting to rain and I hadn’t brought a rain jacket. For context, I have a sensory aversion to all the materials that make up rain jackets, but it’s probably time to overcome that and just purchase one. After a trek to the bleachers and a bit of searching, we found the other members of our group who had beaten us there. It was wonderful to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen in a hot minute, and I had never been to a soccer match live.

I must admit that I’m not an expert on soccer in any way. I was under the impression that there were four forty-minute periods in the sport. I was quite relieved when I was told there were, in fact, only two periods of forty minutes. The last live high school sports game I had attended was a football game, which had been just as boring as watching baseball.

After an introduction that went faster than I expected, the game finally started. Some game time passed and I took a glance at the clock. What first came to mind was that in only a few minutes all the athletes had started using their aerobic energy systems instead of their anaerobic ones. Thanks to the exercise science degree I got in college, I tend to think in physiologically technical terms, which added a new level of fascination to this game. The team we were rooting for started not playing very aggressively; some people in our group attributed it to nervousness given it was the championship finale. As the game progressed, though, they started playing better and more confidently.

I found myself on the edge of my seat any time a goal was scored or missed by either team. The game was tied up at the end of both periods, so the game went into overtime. Then the two overtime periods had wrapped up, and both teams were still tied neck and neck. It had come down to a round of penalty kicks. For those who don’t know (like I didn’t before getting to the game), the penalty kick round typically involves both teams getting 5 chances to shoot at the goal. In this instance, the first team to get more goals than the other in one round won the whole thing. 

The rival team had the first shot and made it in. Then our team had their first shot, which went in as well. The air was thick with suspense as we watched the penalty kicks go on. Eventually, the rival team had their first missed shot, and our team was able to get ahead. By the end of the whole thing, our team had won 5 to 3 in the penalty kicks round. The crowd went roaringly wild with delight once the final ball went in. My throat wound up being sore for a week because I cheered so loud during the game. In the end, I had a great time, and I was sad that it was the last game of the season. If I had known how fun these games could be, I would’ve gone to more than just one. 

I think the key reason I didn’t care about watching sporting events as a child was that I didn’t feel any emotional investment in what was happening. The key for me, I feel, is watching a game where I can invest myself emotionally into it and I know someone who is actually playing in said game. I look forward to attending more games in the future and losing my voice once more.