It felt so damn good to put on shinguards again. Granted they were not mine, they were very used and very grimy, but feeling them around my calves meant that I was playing a league game, a refereed game, not just a kick-around. The uniforms are gold and black: black socks, black shorts, gold and black long-sleeved (great material) jerseys- we're sponsored by Budweiser (it says so across the front of the jersey in as tactful a way as can be expected).
Playing with British women is so different from playing with Americans; they're nowhere near as physical, they're not as argumentative with their marks or the ref, and they're not nearly as vulgar. So relative to my teammates and opponents I suppose I was kind of a beast. The day was freezing, I played center half all game, we played full 45 minute halves, and when our coach Mick brought out orange slices at half time I nearly burst. It felt amazing to play. A-mazing.
Afterwards the two teams gathered in one of the halls for tea (tea!) which consisted of baked potatoes (called jacket potatoes here), baked beans, chocolate digestive biscuits, more orange slices, butter biscuits, cheese, coffee and, yes, tea. We ate together, hopped back in the van, and made the half hour trek back to campus. We won. I got a hat trick.
And now I'm showered, in the library, downloading episodes of Family Guy, and utterly exhausted. With any luck this means I'll sleep tonight.
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