Task number: 3.
Win an award, Trophy or Prize.
Date: 24th April 1996.
Location: Netherfield sports & cricket ground, East
Sussex, UK.
Attendees: My dad & the rest of the Elphinstone
Flyers under 15’s football team.
I’ve been lucky enough to have
won a few of these in my life so far, but I’ve picked this One mainly because
of the sheer feeling I the moment the final whistle went. But it wasn’t without
a story. I have played a lot of football throughout my life, so it is little
wonder that it is based around my favourite sport & the team I played for
as a child.
We’d been top all season, but it
had been a two horse race. The team that had pushed us all the way was Forest
Green. It had been a roller coaster of a ride, but we’d held them off until the
2nd to last game of the season. We were 1 point clear & we had
to play the team that had been breathing down our necks from day 1. A win would
mean we would be league Champions. Unfortunately I missed this One though for
the most bizarre of reasons.
The day before I met some
friends in Hastings to go skating. My dad was never keen on my passion for
skating, but no more so than the day before such a big game. At the time a new
“Snake board” trend was sweeping the nation. People of around my age will
remember that this was similar to a skateboard, with 4 wheels & 2 sets of
trucks, but with 2 separate platforms, independent of each & linked by a
curved bar in between the Two. I had got mine for the previous Christmas &
I’d waited 4 months to use it properly, due to the wet weather that had
persisted that winter. The old man was very nervous about me heading out &
taking part in what he considered reckless activity the day before such a big
game, but there was no way I was listening to him! I remember him saying, “What
ever you do, be careful!” before he dropped me off at the skate park on the
Saturday.
You can guess where this is
going, but I’ll do my best to describe what happened next. This being the first
occasion that I’d taken the board out, I was certainly in my novice stages.
Unfortunately for me, my friends had had theirs a little bit longer & were
slightly more advanced!
After a few hours at the skate
park, we all decided to head down the town. We cruised along Hastings
promenade. As well as having had theirs for longer than me, my friend’s boards
were a lot better. My plastic, beginner board was far inferior to their high
quality, wood based, and spring-loaded suspension boards. It was like a mini
trying to keep up with a Ferrari. They were streaming out in front & I was
struggling to keep up. By the time we were close to the town centre, they were
a good 200 metres in front. I saw them dart down a subway & thought nothing
of following them. It would be significant that I was so far behind them
because I didn’t see that the subway had a steep slope to go into it & a
tight Left turn to go under the road. I knew as soon as I’d got 10 meters down
the slope, that this was going to go very wrong. There are now brakes on a Snake
board. You stop by “carving” to one
side, much like a Snowboard. I was going way to fast to do this & couldn’t
stop. I went crashing into a flight of stairs opposite, smashing my knee into one
of the steps.
I had to call my step mum to
come & take me to hospital. Luckily I hadn’t broken anything, but being on
crutches for 2 weeks meant that playing football the next day was out of the
question. Needless to say, my dad was reeling.
It was heart breaking to stand
on the sidelines & watch my team mates battle out a draw that meant we won
the league, but I knew I’d done my part. A great season had culminated in us
all running on to the pitch at the final whistle. Although slightly tainted, it
was still great day & I learnt my lesson. Sometimes, your parents really do
know better!
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