Starting to Play Football

danceswithwolf

Hi,

I've got a question: has anyone ever started playing football late in life like in their twenties? Or do any clubs cater for this?

I just think of GAA as something if you are not playing when you are in school, you just don't play. I stopped playing hurling at 12. But a lot of sports really cater for people who start a bit older as a social thing.

Thanks!

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danceswithwolf wrote: »

Hi,

I've got a question: has anyone ever started playing football late in life like in their twenties? Or do any clubs cater for this?

I just think of GAA as something if you are not playing when you are in school, you just don't play. I stopped playing hurling at 12. But a lot of sports really cater for people who start a bit older as a social thing.

Thanks!

Go for it Dances!!!!!

Pride Fighter

Check out our stickies at the top of the forum. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055821624 That is the club finder. Most clubs are desperate for players and always are. It's not unusual for someone in their twenties to return to the game. I hope you do and good luck

Tiocfaidh Armani

I'm sure there would be no problem training with a team and then seeing how you get on. Give it a while and see how it goes. I live in Scotland and play here so I see Scottish people who haven't played before giving the game a game when they're into their 20's and takes a little while but it comes to you then and you can enjoy the game with people who've grown up with the game.

Got for it:)

danceswithwolf

Pride Fighter wrote: »

It's not unusual for someone in their twenties to return to the game. I hope you do and good luck

Thanks a lot for the positivity! though it is starting and not "returning"!

GoldFour4

Play in Kilkenny. You will make the county team after a month or 2....

danceswithwolf

malachyscott wrote: »

Play in Kilkenny. You will make the county team after a month or 2....

Thanks, Im actually eligible to play for Kilkenny!

Peace

I'm taking up football next year and i'm 33. Took up hurling when i was 29. I'm not going to pretend to be fit enough to play mid field but i'll be happy in corner/weing back. Might have played in primary school but never since then and can't really remember.

Trust me, doing this sort of stuff is a state of mind.

mcmoustache

I started playing a little over 3 months ago and I was more or less starting from scratch. I hadn't played football since I was forced into it by teachers at the age of 10. I'm 29 now.

I had played 5-a-side soccer on and off but had done nothing for about 3 years. I cycle to work most days and that was about the extent of my fitness when I started. I'm 5'10 and I weighed nearly 12 stone - not fat exactly but carrying a bit of insulation.

The first thing that hit me during the first training session was the breathlessness. I was gasping for breath after a few sprints and nearly seeing stars. Next was the weakness in the legs after about 30 minutes. The next thing to get me after that was the coughing up of flegm for the rest of the day. I smoke so that should have been expected.

I spent the next two days being very stiff. I had warmed down after the session but my legs were new to this so they were a bit delicate. The second training session was a bit easier but two days later, I had a mini disaster. While getting up off a chair, I managed to pull the muscle above the knee in my left leg. That wasn't a big deal but during a game of hacky-sack on the same day, I streched too far and strained my right hamstring. I couldn't walk properly for a while and I was out for two weeks.

When I got back to training, I started making progress and again managed to pull some muscles during sprints but it wasn't too serious. I hurt the muscles behind my ribs about a month ago in a hard (but fair) collision which left me unable to run without pain for about two weeks. I did some light training instead to keep whatever fitness that I had gained. I've learned that it's very easy to pick up injuries when you're unfit.

Regarding to game side of things, picking up the basic skills isn't too hard. Hand-passing and kick-passing are easy enough but picking the ball off the ground was hard at first. I'm still not entirely comfortable with it but I'm nearly there. Doing the solos at speed is also hard at first but practice makes perfect. Our drills focused on fitness and these basics so I wasn't too worried. My main concern was fitness first.

I kept at it anyway and now, three months after that first session, I don't have any problems with my legs. I don't even feel stiff after training.

That muscle behind the ribs, whatever it's called, isn't causing any problems either but it's not fully healed yet so I need to be careful.

I haven't lost any weight but my waist has shrunk and my legs have become quite large. I lost belly fat but gained muscle in my legs so I'm happy with the exchange . I have no breathing difficulties now either nor do I cough up loads of flegm after training.

My next goal is to lose about half a stone or maybe more of fat so that I'm not carrying it around on the field. I've noticed that it takes more time to get to "top speed" now than it took when I was 10.5 stone. The extra 1.5 stone has a lot to do with that. Losing it will also make things easier for my knees and ankles. To do that I've stopped drinking the 2 - 4 cans of fancy beer that I used to drink every day. That's a lot of calories right there and I'm also going without my daily crisps and chocolate. I had to learn the calorific content of foods and the number of them burned during excercise to know how much to eat but it's easy enough. I should be 11 stone by the start of the next league season.


Anyway, that's enough about me. You should definitely take up the sport. Most clubs are very accomodating. It'll be hard at first but you'll be very glad that you did. The skills and fitness will come. You just need to want it enough. As Peace said, it's all about your state of mind.

theoneeyedman

Go for it. I coach a ladies junior club and this year we had a girl in her mid 20's join us. She's about 26/27 and had never played before apart from a bit in national school. She nicked in and definitely contributed to the team throughout the year. Overall the squad is very young so we do concentrate o ball work and basic skills which helped her along a bit. She struggled a bit at the start but in fairness took to it well. I'd say if you have a decent level of basic fitness, hand eye coordination and most of all a good positive attitude you'll enjoy it and be made welcome at most clubs

danceswithwolf

Thanks a lot for the replies, very positive! Im not worried about my fitness as I've been racing bicycles for years, so, I know what's involved in being fit. I just need to find the right club and start. I honestly had never heard of anyone starting to play GAA as an adult before.