Five-a-Side - sort of.

I got roped into a five a side game today. I was sent an Outlook appointement last week, and tentatively accepted, but then lots of others dropped out, so I was required. Actually, it's 4-a-side and on a smaller pitch than we would use in England, and with proper fake grass too. At least 4-a-side is close to a normal game. They have another game here, called jorky ball I think, which is two teams of 2 in a box like a squash court. It's suicidally fast and requires a level of skill & speed I have never possessed (I was a career goalkeeper). I've been asked to join in with this in the past, but they don't bother anymore now! I expect Thierry Henry stared in one of these cubicles..

This game was my first in my entire time as a Symbian programmer. Until I went to London to join Symbian, I'd played footy twice a week and done kickboxing twice a week in Manchester, but since London.....absolutely nowt. I was expecting the worst, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Obviously I stopped being able to run in any meaningful way after half an hour, but a more considered approach allowed me to take out the oppostion's strikers just at the end of their mazy runs, ie when they were knackered too. There was quite a strange mix of players - two of the best were also the two biggest, to put it very politely. I've seen this before actually, they often have very good balance, and are hard to knock off the ball. The audio team architect is quite good too, and not on my team, so he ran me ragged. But I was by no means the worst and I will improve as my fitness increases and allows me to maintain a decent pace for a full hour.

The only drawback for me really is that these games are lunchtime, which means (a) missing a fab lunch in the canteen (b) feeling hot and sweaty for the afternoon in the office. Same again next Tuesday though - hooked again now...