Over the next couple months, Kurt and John will be bringing you a series of updates of Octopi Vancouver, Urban Rec’s premier soccer team. No we aren’t a team of Brazilians and no, you shouldn’t expect this segment to be a chronicle of countless victories. What you can expect is an ongoing narrative of community building on and off the pitch.
This week’s game was the first of our two month season. We are playing the whole season in Thunderbird Stadium. The games are seven aside and we were excited to bring together a dozen and half folks from different communities. Our team is made up of people from all walks of life including video editors, advertising executives, post-secondary career dudes (that’s you John), budding architects, reporters, and even political operatives (not me… I swear).
The diversity of the team was exciting. So was the positivity. Our crew arrived hungry and 45 minutes early in an eerily empty stadium. When the whistle blew, we came out of the gate strong. Within 10 minutes, star striker John Horn had managed to slip by the defense and crack a shot to the top right corner of the net. We were ahead one nothing. The crowd (composed of team’s two other subs) went wild. We were on our way.
The moment of victory lasted for about five minutes until Nomads FC (our opponents), dressed in maroon bright orange, managed to slip by our team for a quick goal. “Bam,” as Emeril would say. After an initial rush of winning adrenaline, we were tied and could feel the momentum shifting. Our winger, architecture-student-by-day, soccer-star-by-night, Stew Burgess hustled back and forth down the field but couldn’t find an opening. Around then is when star midfielder Erin took a twist and a turn that sent sharp pain throughout her ankle. She’d be sitting off on the sidelines for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the defense captained by Brenton and Roger were able to close down the Nomad FC’s constant strikes until 20 minutes in and a header off a corner kick that could have been lifted straight out of the World Cup. That’s when we started to realize the team we were playing was full of Englishmen. As usual, they displayed the latent skill in “football” of their countrymen and by the late part of the first half, their prowess was on full display.
As the cold biting air ate away at our team in the second half, the team capitalized on Octopi‘s mistakes and notched three more goals. By the third goal, our back was broken. Despite repeated miraculous saves by Octopi goaltender David Willensky, the English “beast” would not be satiated. A late “dribble around the goalie” goal by John Horn could not inject any life into Octopi. We lay mangled on the plate like some calamari served up at White Spot. Pass the tatziki sauce boys.
The final score was 5-2 (at least that’s what I’m going to say the score was). Miraculously, despite the drubbing on the field, spirits were not significantly damaged. I’m going to chalk that up to the perservering spirit inherent in the group of people that we’ve brought together. In fact the teams positivity remained well after the final whistle was blown. After a brief “people’s mike” session, the team decided to take their “game” to the next level with the commissioning of some hot pink t-shirts. Stay tuned for a brief of our next game.