It's official: summer is here. This Sunday marks the fourth time I've played football with my advertising buddies. I could ask for more, really. My love for the game is such that I've promised myself to fight off the hours spent on sofas and in front of the computer doing nothing and instead spend forty-five minutes on the treadmill building up the muscles and the stamina I've lost over the years.
I'm not ashamed to call out my age: 36. And I try my best to battle the bulge, the sedentary lifestyle and everything that comes with being that age so that I could play much better football.
Sometimes I wished that I hadn't stopped playing but before I left high school I was already into martial arts. And the only time I ran on the pitch was when I enlisted in soccer as a P.E. class in college. After that, when I already went to work, I lost sight of it and focused on my passion for advertising.
It was several years later when my friends from the industry began talking about football again. That was when the cable networks started showing the world cup in this side of the hemisphere. I blame my country for not falling in love with the game - it's a good thing that the my interest in it never really died.
I went back to the pitch several years ago and played in the Ateneo High School Football field. Several months after that, we grew in size and became a ragtag band of enthusiasts. We called ourselves a team, by the funky name of Mang Chester United.
I designed the logo of a man spewing his guts out. Funny, but we tried to become more serious about it. We tried competing as well, first with the old timers that also spent weekends playing in Ateneo and then in the non-professional league which held games during summer.
We never did get anything but a serious butt kicking, but it was worth it. I had regained my youth. I also tried indoor football, futsal - my love was returned with a badly sprained ankle, but it was during this time that I realized that I could push myself further.
I'm still playing now and my love for the game is stronger than ever. I'd religiously do 4k to 5k, three times a week to strengthen my stamina. The only harder thing to beat is my age, but it's not impossible to overcome that.
Today just proved to be more difficult, the sun was a worthy opponent and everyone was just complaining how hot it was. The proof is the tan which I now sport. I should have brought protection, but hey, if you love the game you'll have to love everything about it.
Of course, I couldn't stop myself from asking who invited the sun to play that morning. He should have invited the rain clouds as well.
