I played soccer for the first time in a week or to today (Thursday, 4th). I don’t know how I made it that long without kicking a ball, but I did. Anywho, there are some older kids who are a little more mature physically and use it to their advantage (as anyone would) when going up against a smaller more agile kid. This happened occasionally to the extent where scoring opportunities are lost due to a hard foul or illegal hold on a player. Not that there are any refs or anything here, but that’s good for me! I am not shy about using my size to knock around some of the 17 and 18 year olds to even the playing field a bit. They enjoy the competition, although it frustrates them occasionally not being able to move someone out of their way at will. And of course, it is all in good fun as everyone is laughing as the white guy is giving the older kids a taste of their own medicine.
The rough and tumble play here is very typical of pick-up games and is essentially a part of the culture. Becoming a man and going through the rites of passage has a very important role in the lives of these boys. One of the middle stages actually includes 3 years of fighting (or more colloquially, wrestling). They have to participate in fights (to the ground) for three years before they can go through the final rite of passage, which is the dance that only occurs once every 5 years (video to the right).
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