Give me some street cred... I tried to get involved in student life at LSE. I pulled away from club GW in London and attempted to meet some authentic british people. What better way than through their own sport, soccer/football? right?
So I went to a team practice today which turned out not to be what I expected. First, the field was in the suburbs of London, a good 40 min train ride away. then we had to walk like a mile through neighborhoods and people's backyards to get to the sporting grounds. I will say though, once we got there, we had arrived at the fields of dreams. LSE has randomly bought about 6 acres of land and made perfect rugby, lacrosse, soccer and softball fields. There is a clubhouse that makes the entire place seem like a country club, with a cafe and viewing deck and brand new changing rooms and clubhouses for the teams. I was impressed.
It was cool to meet all of the other girls on the team, I just expected the level of intensity to be a lot higher. I dont really consider myself a "great" soccer player, but I have played for basically my whole life and like to be challenged and play with people that are better than me. When the coach was demonstrating how to chest trap and head a ball, i knew we had problems.
Overall, I was glad I went and tried it out... but the practice in general reminded me of high school P.E. soccer games where everyone is forced to play during gym class.
I think I would get along with the girls on the team really well, and it would be cool to have some authentically british friends, but I dont know if I can put myself through those weekly practices that are just SO FAR away. Its a big time commitment that I will dread if I dont enjoy it.
I am going to look for some pickup leagues in the mean time that may be more competitive and closer by.
But i still get an "A" for effort.
