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| HoH Family Portrait. |
[THE PITCH]
“Games, changes and fears
When will they go from here
When will they stop.”
Last year, when my family and I visited Stockholm during a
break in the season, we made a point to see The Changing of The Guards at
Sweden’s Palace in Gamla Stan. Official uniforms, a band, and synchronized
movements are all a part of this ritual, celebrating national pride. A large
crowd of tourists come together to, quite simply, watch the guards switch shifts.
I’ve seen the Changing of the Guards in Oslo, Norway and London, England as
well. It happens in many different countries throughout the world. And so it seems
that I am not the only one to make a big deal out of change. To gain
perspective (but mostly to make my case for being melodramatic) I have enlisted
the wisdom of those far more astute than myself to play the role of
provocateur.
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| TFF v Vittsjö |
So many of my blogs have referred back to that moment when I
decided to move to Sweden. In that instant, I changed my career path,
relationships, and home. It seems to be the pivotal point in my life. After
years of developing a style of play that I was both comfortable with and proud
of, I was forced to change my style in order to fit a new role. Ugh!!! Noted neurologist, Viktor E. Frankl might argue, “When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to
change ourselves.” Good
point… While all that changing happened to me, something changed within
me. To find happiness in Sweden, I had
to change my perspective. I’m not sure of which I am more proud: taking the
leap or growing the wings.
And then, I changed teams again. New job…Bang…New
relationships…Bam…New home…Boom! One might think that after I’d garnered all
the benefits of change so many times before, the process would get easier. But
it isn’t. I continue to miss. I continue to resist. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through
continuous struggle.” You’re right, Dr. King so I better stay tough.
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| TFF @ HoH |
My head coach Tony has made a point to tell me that he
doesn’t want to cut off my edges to fit me into the team. “No need to change
you,” he says, “we can find you in our system.” Hmm… But with these new
players, this new system, and a totally different style around me, I’ve started to see the steadfast truth in life: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.
We are the ones we've been waiting
for. We are the change that we seek.”
Truth President Obama! If I am going to grow, I have to change.
No, I’m not saying that I have to force this “square peg”
into a circle,—getting away from my strengths as a player—would be a mess. But
I am not opposed to a little nip and tuck…here and there. (I am an LA girl after all!!) They say that
football is a game of inches, and the small adjustments in timing and
positioning transform the game entirely. If so, then maybe my role last year
and my role this year are not so far apart…or perhaps they are colossally
different.
In the past, it seemed as if change was something that
happened to me. I, in turn, had to
change to survive. But now as I look toward the season ahead of me, I can make
the choices myself. I can choose to
change; I can, for the first time, actively seek out the adjustments that will
allow me to thrive. As of now, I don’t know much for certain: not what these
changes will look like or when I will make them. But to that end, I think I’ll just let Winston Churchill have the
last word here. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
[Stoppage Time] The season is underway. It feels good to be in the swing of
things. Preseason is long, hard, and here in Sweden…a liiiitle bit chilly. We
are the favored team to win the league. So, automatically, that makes things ten
times harder. We are the only team to have three wins in our first three games.
But all three games were …well… hard.
To finish at the top of the table, we are going to have to
find all sorts of different ways to win games. Our last two games are prime
examples.
After squeaking out a 1-0 premier win against Umeå, we
traveled down to Vittsjö. We played the game against, (arguably)
Damallsvenskan’s most physical team, on (arguably) the worst grass I’ve played
on in quite some time. In light of the pitch conditions and to minimize the
risk of “bad field bad luck,” we changed our game plan to a very direct style,
similar to how our opponents played. Our 2-0 win meant more to us than the box
score, however, because we had to step outside ourselves to beat them at their
own game.
And, then, this past weekend at home in our game versus
Linköping, it was one of those games…one of those games… where you are playing
really well, but can’t score. One of those games… where you are doing
everything right… but can’t score.
Just moments before the end of the match, when the emotions
of the game started to swell up in the stadium, I let out a deep breath and
tried to remind myself, for the 1000th time, that I was sure that we
were going to score. A teammate looked over to me and said, “you’re going to
have one more chance” but I could see in her eyes she meant, “you’re going to
score.” While the media would comment about another close game for a team that,
perhaps, should be winning by larger margins (c/o Google translate and their
oh-so-doubtful intonations,) the steadfast faith demonstrated by my teammates seems
remarkable to me.
To remain unwaveringly confident when you’re playing against
a strong opponent is no easy feat. To remain calm all the way into the final
minutes of a match in spite of all of the pressure and expectations is no
simple task. To ignore the soft whispers of self-doubt that grow louder as
every scoreless minute passes is something of which we can be quite proud. And
to score in the 88th and 91st minutes, snatching all
three points… well that’s just fun!
Highlights here.
[Off
The Post!] #ThatAwkwardMoment
on the field when…
@knowles1313: getting
sniped, missing the ball, and getting a turf burn on my face... see picture
(i'm in white) http://bit.ly/107XjKo
@CaitlinKyaw: scored a goal and went to hug my
teammate, and both of us didn't know which way to face, and ended up kissing.
Awk
@rootchino: Broken thumb,
had a metal splint. Ref tied 2 big shinpads on my hand. Ran around for 90mins
with a giant ghetto oven mitt :(
@dquicky: tried2
intercept a pass, foot rolled on top of th ball n i smacked myslf in th face
wth my own knee, tried callin 4 a foul...
@joenooft: scored my 1st
career goal as sweeper the proceeded to high knee/sprint back to my spot arms
in the air, holding up duces.
@suth: I was about 4
years old. While taking a breather I ended up standing in fire ants. Coaches
had to strip me down on the field.
-only
because I picture this happening to max. and then him running around naked.
Insanely well written and so insightful! Looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteHello Christen,
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you one thing right ahead:
I love reading your blog.
It's always interesting to read.
The Changing of the Guards is always interesting to look at.
I saw it in Prague and in London as well and I was both times impressed and amazed.
I think that a change is never easy.
As time passes by everything gets easier but at the beginning it isn't.
Not only in soccer but everywhere. I think I'm not telling you something new. But as a human being most of us are caught in routines and repetitions. We have a fixed daily routine and we stick to it. Go to work, come home, eat something and get to bed. Sometimes you have time for activities.
Of course this can vary.
I made the experience that a team can be successfull if everyone keeps his personality and fights for the other ones. One for all and all for one!
“Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi)
It may be a bit large but this quote can be refered to all kind of situations.
Now I'm gonna wait for your next blog entry!
Thank you! :)
Greetings
Dia K
Hello Christen,
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you one thing right ahead:
I love reading your blog.
It's always interesting to read.
The Changing of the Guards is always interesting to look at.
I saw it in Prague and in London as well and I was both times impressed and amazed.
I think that a change is never easy.
As time passes by everything gets easier but at the beginning it isn't.
Not only in soccer but everywhere. I think I'm not telling you something new. But as a human being most of us are caught in routines and repetitions. We have a fixed daily routine and we stick to it. Go to work, come home, eat something and get to bed. Sometimes you have time for activities.
Of course this can vary.
I made the experience that a team can be successfull if everyone keeps his personality and fights for the other ones. One for all and all for one!
“Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi)
It may be a bit large but this quote can be refered to all kind of situations.
Now I'm gonna wait for your next blog entry!
Thank you! :)
Greetings
Dia K