The Magical Thing That Happened When I Joined An Adult Sports League

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Mental illness has taken a lot of things away from me; and my love of sport was one of them. As a child, teen, and student, I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. However, when I left my job for health reasons, I stopped playing sports.

For one thing, the medications I was trying at the time caused me to have extreme fatigue and gastrointestinal distress.

But, once I sorted that problem out, the real reason was this;

If I wasn’t working full time, I didn’t feel as though I should spend money on the ‘luxury’ of extracurricular activities.

I didn’t feel as though I deserved to have fun if I didn’t earn it.

My husband encouraged me to join the local ladies’ soccer league, as his co-worker’s wife also played. I suspected his ulterior motive was that he’d be able to go out for beers with his bud while we gals played soccer. But he also knew that the change from an active lifestyle to a sedentary wasn’t good for me.

After almost three years of avoiding it, I finally signed up for the local ladies’ soccer league. Going to the first game was terrifying. I hadn’t played in years, my social interactions had been lacking, and my sense of faith in myself was pretty low.

The first half was a little rough. My brain kept intruding into the game, telling me I wasn’t fit enough, that I didn’t deserve to be here, that this was a waste of money. I would jog up field, only to stop in my tracks to berate myself. I would hesitate to confront someone with the ball, and be annoyed with myself for my hesitation.

But at some point during the second half, something amazing happened. There was a player on the other team on a breakaway, and I was the only defence between her and our keeper. Before I knew it, my body reacted. I charged her, running faster than I knew I could. I tackled the ball, got it around her, and kicked it up the field to my mid-fielders.

“Way to go, Catherine!” One of my teammates yelled.

Immediately, I felt the sting of tears in my eyes.

Did someone just cheer for me? Out loud? Someone I had only just met?!

What a powerful feeling!

After that game, and every game since, I began to consider the benefits that joining the league had given me. When I was young, I played sports simply because they were fun; soccer, volleyball, basketball, flag football, competitive swimming, dodge ball, ultimate frisbee…It was all just fun and games, right?

Sports are so much more than fun!

I had participated in sports for so long and so frequently that I didn’t see how much they were enriching my life. I thought sports were an amusing little life extra; now, I see, sports were my key to health and wellness.

Here are some of the benefits I’ve gained from joining an adult sports league.

Routine & Healthy Habits

Sunday night soccer is now part of my weekly routine, grounding me to a specific place and time. Since I wasn’t working, and my husband works an odd schedule, the days of the week had lost meaning for me. But now, Sundays mean soccer, and preparing for soccer means drinking lots of water, and preparing and eating a healthy meal so I have the energy to play. It also means a hot shower or relaxing bath with Epsom salts after the game. Soccer Sundays are now also #selfcaresundays!

Physical Exercise

One of the great things about running is that it’s free. But the downside is that running is a solitary and very mental activity. For someone like me who experiences a lot of negative mental chatter, running is just another excuse to berate oneself.

But a team sport requires you to think about something outside of yourself. Quite often in team sports, you are busy having so much fun or concentrating on the game that you barely notice how much exercise you are getting!

My muscles had locked up by the second half of my first game, and I was stiff for a week! However, since then, each game has gotten easier and easier. I stretch before and after each game, and am able to run faster and further. My raspy, uneven breathing disappeared. My weekly sweat session helped to clear up my skin. I was shocked to see how fast I changed on a physical level! I simply couldn’t ignore my improvements and was forced to accept that positive things were happening to me.

Mental Stimulation

In my post, The One Thing That Gave Me Hope For Recovery From Mental Illness, I talked about the parts of the brain and how they respond to trauma and trauma triggers. Quite often, our brain’s ‘emergency response’ centre, the limbic area, hijacks the rest of the brain. It responds automatically, moving our body before our thinking mind is even aware of it.

I mentioned the magical moment that happened in the second half of my first soccer game. I had been struggling with negative thinking, which was coming from my logical mind, the prefrontal cortex. But when the player on the other team approached me, I responded automatically to this ‘threat’. I didn’t respond by hitting her, running away, or freezing; my body remembered the appropriate response – tackle the ball.

My subconscious mind was able to react to a stressful situation in a positive way – even if the stress was minor. I was actively reinforcing that I was able to trust myself to respond appropriately, even to mild, non-life-threatening stress. In turn, the more I paid attention to the flow of the game and the positions of my fellow players, the more I kept my logical mind occupied, instead of focusing on negative thoughts.

The other benefit of a physical response to stress is that you are able to use the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, for a purpose. When you don’t respond physically to stress, these hormones can wreak havoc on the body.

Social Interaction

For people who have experienced interpersonal trauma, interacting with others can feel like a risky activity. When your trust in others has been eroded, you feel constantly on-guard in social situations. Sports are a great opportunity to work on social interaction because sports don’t often require a lot of prolonged, deep conversation. Team sports are particularly beneficial because they automatically slot you into a group of people you belong to, and who depend upon each other for success.

Social interaction also allows you to experience kindness. For example, one week I forgot my soccer socks, and wouldn’t be allowed to play without them. One of my teammates had an extra pair, and didn’t think twice about lending them to me, even though she had to wear the dirty pair in her gym bag.

This small gesture might not seem like a big deal, but it was still an act of kindness, and one I felt grateful to be able to accept.

Finally, I had forgotten how wonderful it feels to have someone cheer for you! As a woman, it’s also incredibly empowering to be supported by other women. All too often, women are busy comparing themselves to others and cutting other women down. But in team sports, the success of the team depends on team members supporting and trusting one another.

Now, I’m the one on the field cheering on my fellow players!

I’m so glad that I made my return to sports as an adult. I hope this inspires you to try something new, get moving, and have fun.

All the best,

Catherine