Soccer

Moore Family
of Arizona

Soccer:

No surprise that living in England I played soccer a huge amount as a child and played in various teams.

As a teenager in Southampton, England I playing for the Under 25 Club (U25 Club) in various leagues. We played for many years just for fun with a great bunch of friends. I also played indoor 5-a-side soccer for several years - a challenging game - great for skills and fitness. All this changed when I relocated to Swindon, England in 1984. Since then I played only occasionally until about 2003...

I now play on a team called the Firebirds in the AYSO Arizona 'Soccer For Adults' league. We have been quite successful over the last few years - including winning the league - but have fallen off a bit in the last few seasons..

We decided to start playing in Division 2 Rather than Division 1 so we could have more fun. Probably a wise move - we had about the oldest team in the league in combined ages!

We do not play games in the summer but we have league seasons in the Fall, Winter & Spring. Usually the end of the spring season and the start of the fall season still bring temperatures over 100F so we still get some real heat challenges. At the end of the spring season 2005 we played in 113F weather. Two other teams showed up and decided not to play - they just both forfeited for a draw. We were in contention for a finishing position so played out the whole game (water breaks every 15 minutes - still...phew!)

Not sure how much longer I will keep playing (I'm getting relatively ancient), but as long as I enjoy it I suppose. I have had some injuries that have made me think twice - a torn meniscus (knee) last summer and I have developed heel pain (Plantar Fascitis) and still need to wear special insoles for this.

Still so far so (...almost) good!