Here’s how you play right back in soccer: take a look at Mathaus, and do the opposite of what he’s doing.
No, that’s not because I’m an amazing left back and you just need to mirror my actions.
I came to Bryan with no intention of playing any sports. That was the furthest thing from my mind when I arrived. I viewed the soccer fields with a detached air as we drove past, and didn’t think of them again.
As it turns out, God had other plans.
Through a long string of events I’m now a proud member of Bryan FC. (Not varsity, not JV, but the club team.) And I’m also the worst player on the team. I’m slower than everyone else, I have no endurance, and I have literally no clue how I’m supposed to react in defense. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the sport, those are three very bad traits for a soccer player. The only thing I do well is control the ball when it’s on the ground, and I have a killer long range shot. (And… I’m tall. You know.)
So I spent weeks training hard, trying to improve my skill as a defender. And you know what happened?
That’s right. Minimal improvement. I had no clue what I was doing out there. After a while I started to get frustrated. It became clear to me that I had hit my wall and that I was never going to be able to get this down. I couldn’t beat it back to defend, I could never keep myself between the attacker and the goal, and I was way too aggressive— which left huge gaps in the back line. It all chalked up to total failure.
Fortunately for my soccer career, that’s not the end of the story. We played a hard game against another school, and the rest of the team was completely tired out. When our striker gave the international soccer sign for “help me, I’m dying of fatigue,” our coach looked around and saw me.
“You’re aggressive,” he said. “How’s your foot?”
“In my estimation or other people’s eyes?” I asked.
“Good enough,” he replied. “Go play striker.”
After thirty seconds’ worth of finger drawn diagrams in the dirt I was up at the top of the field with a goal kick soaring in at me.
As it turns out, I’m a terrible right back. But as it also turns out, I’m an okay striker. I’m definitely not starter material. My plays are very hit or miss. But when the game is slowing and we need an aggressive player to push the opposing back line, I’m the guy who goes in. I can easily tell who I should mark when I’m up front looking at a play backwards, and I’m starting to figure out where I need to be before the ball is played. I’ve never scored, but I’ve set up plenty of opportunities for other people. Any soccer enthusiast will tell you that’s more important than the glory of the goal.
It’s a change to be sure. If you had told me three months ago that I would be representing Bryan on a soccer team, I wouldn’t have believed a word of it. If you’d told me a month ago that I would be playing striker on that same team… well, you get the picture. Life is crazy like that. Change happens, and oftentimes the reason we are failing over and over at a task is because we’re coming at it the wrong way. Sometimes we take the time to step back and analyze the situation to realize our mistakes, but we also need to be open to other people pointing out how to better perform. God speaks directly to us, and He also uses other people to do the same. If you’re just open to the one line of communication then you’re only receiving half the insight. Believe me— you don’t want to play a position without first knowing what to do.