Sundays with the Vets

Soccer season started up again here. Thinking it best not to wait until the team captain took me aside and asked about my retirement plans, I voluntarily scratched myself from the lineup of the British Club’s Casuals team and instead joined its Veterans’ League squad.

For us older gents, team size, game length, field measurement, and net width are all scaled back. We also play less often: one Sunday a month, all afternoon, tournament style. There’s some down time between matches, which is nice for socializing. Everything gets organized by an exuberant Turk; a French team apparently always brings the sandwiches; the Germans pick up the beverages; while us Brits provide the witty repartee.


It’s not the World Cup, to be sure. Some guys look exhausted after the first half a game. But for me it’s great simply to be out there, chatting about Chelsea and Liverpool and the know-nothing refs, getting a little exercise and a lot of sun, knowing that Jip is getting good care from somebody else. It’s been a while since I’ve had a two-day weekend.