OT: I feel so..stupid.

[s0ccer_princess]

I go to an all girls school, and sadly our PE department puts a great deal of emphasis on netball and hockey, meaning us football players don't get much of a look in. A maths teacher even runs football club! Anyway, this changed slightly with the arrival of our new head of PE. She was surprised to hear we had no matches. So she got arranging and two weeks ago said to me in the corridor: "Aha! Just the person I wanted to see! Find me 7 people for the 30th November".

After a total rush on my behalf trying to assemble a team in two weeks and get practises, at the start of this week it was finally sorted and I got the permission letters and put them in the registers.

We went to the match today, and the final score was 0-0. Thisshould have been agreat result considering we had never practised as a team, and the school we played against were a proper established team. It's just weird how you can go from completely high to low in the space of 20 minutes.

You see, before we went on, our teacher said to me: "You're taking the toss by the way, because you're the captain". I was totally shocked, I mean I never expected to be madecaptain. Anyway, the game kicked off, their defence was really shaky and we soon realised they weren't as tough as they had been made out to be. The first half went great and we came off for half time on a total high. Until we remembered about this girl..

You see, one of our team members had told her firend she had been selected for the team. Her friend then just decided randomly that she was going to come along, expecting to play, even though she hadn't been selected for the team. She was a substitute for the first half and stood on the sidelines. IT was only when we came off that we realised she was expecting to play..

So basically, we ask her where she wants to play and after going: "I don't know..I dont have a position normally" over and over again she finally said she wanted to play as a striker. My position.

Needless to say, then we were told the game was restarting and we had to go on. They all ran on, leaving me standing at the sides. Longest 20 minutes of my life. The final whistle goes, and I just want to go home. After all of the organising, even after being made captain, I'm a sub. I'm unneeded. I'm not annoyed that I didn't get to play, I'm not being greedy. It's more the feeling that after all the hard work, I'm just rejected.

I'm sorry everyone. I seem like a totally greedy cow. I just have been rejected so many times at school with teams..netball for three years..and finally this was my chance to show I could do something. And it's going the same way as everything else.

[pretty polly]

Oh thats a shame soccer princess - its obvious to us all that you are
really into football. And it sounds like you put alot of effort into
organizing this team. Its sad that you felt left out at the end. But
surely if you are the captain, then you get to make the decisions
over who plays where in the future, and the fact that you put the
team together must mean that you get precedence in the team over
some stand-in that doesn't even know what position they want!

Don't be downhearted, this is your team and you make the rules. The
very fact that your teacher made you captain must tell you
something!! Good on you. Good luck in your next game!

P.S what premiership team do you support? I like to watch most of
the big teams but my hubby is a Liverpool fan!

[s0ccer_princess]

Thanks

I feel totally stupid, like I'm being greedy. It just was such a let down, after all of it not even being needed.

Yeah, I don't know how we're going to tell this girl. I don't want to be mean, I really don't know how we're going to phrase that she isn't on the team, and she can't just turn up like that.

I support West Ham actually now you mention it

[tayda]

I don't think you're being greedy, I think that in a way that you got a little shafted. I participated in sports in high school, and we always posted who was on the team, and who would be a sub.


It will be harder to tell her that she is not official now that she has played, but it's something you need to do. It's not like she's a die-hard football fan or player, so I wouldn't feel too bad about it.


Just let her down nicely, you know the traditional, I'm really sorry about the mess up, but these are the people who are on the team and these are the peoiple who sub when one of those people is UNABLE to play...blah blah blah..


You're dissappointed b/c you put so much work into the team, and expected to play the whole game.. just like she would have been dissappointed b/c she didn't get to play.


I think you were very gracious, and being a more selfless than selfish... you put someone before yourself... that's always cool dude!


I think for all the work you did, and generocity towards others.. that you're an excellent captain.

[nicki]

I think you did brilliantly with all the organisation you did, trust me it won't go unnoticed.


Don't feel like you were unneeded just because you were made a sub. Subs make up a very important part of the team, plus you have already proved yourself with all the organisational work you did, the work you had already done was needed throughout the rest of the game, it didn't become useless at half time (hope that makes sense).


At my school we use a rotation system for the subs - they don't take up the same position every week (after all if they are a sub they need to be able to play every position) plus it also means they get some match experience, all the training in the world won't give you true match experience. Would this work at your school, there would be no letting anyone down, everyone would get to play and you would have a sub that starts to really develop her game skills.

[s0ccer_princess]

Great idea, thank you

I felt sorry for her, I know what it's like to be standing there, it's happened to me many times before hehe. I just hope we will get some more matches, so we can all get a bit more experience, and maybe even win next time.

I think I should thank my PE teacher for getting us that match, because before she came the PE teachers never even mentioned football ONCE. Even when we won the local competition.

My school said about how we were the first girls school to be made a science and engineering school in the country, which is a wonderful achievement. But why neglect gender equalityissues on your own doorstep?

It's the twenty-first century, not the early 1900s. Women can vote, get properjobs (although it still isn't entirely equal there either) and take part in professional sports. I would have thought our school would have spotted football as something which could promote them at the very least, if not for the idea of doing something for us.

I'm sorry again :P, it's just something that annoys me. Especially considering today they put up floodlights for the netball court on the edges of our football pitch (and still said we couldn't have any), so we can't even play there anymore.