Goalkeeping and me....
As many may know, I have a love for rugby and football. I was very much a tom boy when I was younger. Always playing with the boys. I couldn't and still can't abide bitchiness or jealousy and the lads seemed to accept me because I could kick a ball....whether it was round or egg shaped. I even made the girl's volleyball team in school. About the only time the PE teacher had any time for me. So yea, I was always picked first for football and rugby. I played in many different positions in both. Mostly defence as I was small but tough.In football I learned a few dirty tricks to keep the ball too....sly squeezing of a certain place. So I was put into goal just to keep me out of harms way! And so over the years I practiced and became quite good at goalkeeping. I loved it. My interest grew and grew. Then one day I was asked to try out for the Ireland ladies team as they trained in the field across from where I live. I was excited. However, a few days before I was due to try out I found out the universe had a bigger plan for me. I was pregnant! Happy days.
I put my time into raising my family and brought the kids to the park to play football at every opportunity. I was very competitive I must admit. I still played the odd game here and there though. Then the local youth group asked me if I would play in a charity event 5 a side they were organising. It was mixed and they wanted me to be captain. I jumped at the chance. Little did I know...
So we did the usual... picked teams and did the round robin thing. People were genuinely surprised at how competitive and determined to win I was. They were also surprised at how good I was. We got through the first round without conceding a single goal. We scored 10. We got through the second round without conceding a goal. We scored 7. We won the semi final 5-1. I was raging I let one in, but it was a penalty so that's ok. I was determined to not let any more in. By now a lot of the men were feeling very annoyed and frustrated because they couldn't score against me. This made me more determined to keep a clean sheet in the final.
So the final kicked off. The other team were 5 men, against us, 4 men and me. cross after cross and shot after shot came in and I saved every one of them. I was getting lucky with my kicks and throws and we were 3-0 up. One of their players came to me and in a not very nice manner, told me how he was going to go out of his way to score against me. My answer was "do your worst" or words to that effect. So there was 10 mins left. They were awarded a corner. This chap decided he was going to take it. I took my position and waited. He took such a run at the ball and hit it with such venom. I didn't think twice. I ran and took it full force on my hand, hitting it out for a corner. There was an almighty crack. I looked at my hand. My little finger was twisted and limp, as was my ring finger. The top of my middle finger was facing the wrong way. And my wrist was limp. My immediate reaction was to turn my middle finger the right way round. That's when the pain hit. And my whole hand went into a duck bill type spasm. The game was still on. I felt weak with the pain. No-one had really noticed. So I held my hand behind my back and continued to play. I finished the game. We won the cup. The lads made a big fuss of me. I collected the cup, and my medal. All the time I wanted to cry with the pain. I saw my chance and sneaked away. I went home and called my Dad. All I could say was I needed the hospital. He came and we went to the emergency room.
A broken little finger, a broken ring finger, a broken and dislocated middle finger and a fractured wrist.
The pain was immense. There was talk of operations etc. There was no guarantee my hand would work properly ever again. I had a special cast for 6 weeks, and strapped up for another 6. Months of physio ensued. The worst part was I was told I couldn't play football again. I was devastated. The use of my left hand is now greatly weakened. I have arthritis in it. It goes into spasms at awkward moments. Things tend to 'jump' out of it. I find it difficult to cut my own food up, as I have no strength in it. The bones snap very easily, so I have to be careful. I have refereed a few matches since but I am too nervous to continue. So I've retired from my football and rugby careers, but I will always be proud to be the only woman to have captained and won the SAW trophy. The bloke who did it was shocked when he saw the state of my hand. I could have taken things further but chose not to. An apology was sufficient. Some of my favourite football players through the years have been goalkeepers...and I'm always very critical of their performances when I watch.
I have adapted and changed things in my life to accommodate and compensate for the fact my left hand is weaker. I'm lucky because I'm ambi dextrous. I haven't allowed it to hold me back in any way. I had great fun playing football and those are the memories I choose to hold on to. I guess I'm made of tough stuff eh?
SharonAnn
I put my time into raising my family and brought the kids to the park to play football at every opportunity. I was very competitive I must admit. I still played the odd game here and there though. Then the local youth group asked me if I would play in a charity event 5 a side they were organising. It was mixed and they wanted me to be captain. I jumped at the chance. Little did I know...
So we did the usual... picked teams and did the round robin thing. People were genuinely surprised at how competitive and determined to win I was. They were also surprised at how good I was. We got through the first round without conceding a single goal. We scored 10. We got through the second round without conceding a goal. We scored 7. We won the semi final 5-1. I was raging I let one in, but it was a penalty so that's ok. I was determined to not let any more in. By now a lot of the men were feeling very annoyed and frustrated because they couldn't score against me. This made me more determined to keep a clean sheet in the final.
So the final kicked off. The other team were 5 men, against us, 4 men and me. cross after cross and shot after shot came in and I saved every one of them. I was getting lucky with my kicks and throws and we were 3-0 up. One of their players came to me and in a not very nice manner, told me how he was going to go out of his way to score against me. My answer was "do your worst" or words to that effect. So there was 10 mins left. They were awarded a corner. This chap decided he was going to take it. I took my position and waited. He took such a run at the ball and hit it with such venom. I didn't think twice. I ran and took it full force on my hand, hitting it out for a corner. There was an almighty crack. I looked at my hand. My little finger was twisted and limp, as was my ring finger. The top of my middle finger was facing the wrong way. And my wrist was limp. My immediate reaction was to turn my middle finger the right way round. That's when the pain hit. And my whole hand went into a duck bill type spasm. The game was still on. I felt weak with the pain. No-one had really noticed. So I held my hand behind my back and continued to play. I finished the game. We won the cup. The lads made a big fuss of me. I collected the cup, and my medal. All the time I wanted to cry with the pain. I saw my chance and sneaked away. I went home and called my Dad. All I could say was I needed the hospital. He came and we went to the emergency room.
A broken little finger, a broken ring finger, a broken and dislocated middle finger and a fractured wrist.
The pain was immense. There was talk of operations etc. There was no guarantee my hand would work properly ever again. I had a special cast for 6 weeks, and strapped up for another 6. Months of physio ensued. The worst part was I was told I couldn't play football again. I was devastated. The use of my left hand is now greatly weakened. I have arthritis in it. It goes into spasms at awkward moments. Things tend to 'jump' out of it. I find it difficult to cut my own food up, as I have no strength in it. The bones snap very easily, so I have to be careful. I have refereed a few matches since but I am too nervous to continue. So I've retired from my football and rugby careers, but I will always be proud to be the only woman to have captained and won the SAW trophy. The bloke who did it was shocked when he saw the state of my hand. I could have taken things further but chose not to. An apology was sufficient. Some of my favourite football players through the years have been goalkeepers...and I'm always very critical of their performances when I watch.
I have adapted and changed things in my life to accommodate and compensate for the fact my left hand is weaker. I'm lucky because I'm ambi dextrous. I haven't allowed it to hold me back in any way. I had great fun playing football and those are the memories I choose to hold on to. I guess I'm made of tough stuff eh?
SharonAnn
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