From the Stands to the Sands
- Tevyn Gill
- Oct 16, 2017
- 3 min read
18.11.16
Funny how much can change in a year…
To think just a year ago, I was broke, jobless, hopeless and feeling like I had no direction and no purpose whatsoever. In a last ditch effort to propel myself out of my pit of spiraling desperation, I spent the last $500 I had on a random trip to Tobago with my friends to watch a beach soccer tournament. That trip, despite all the others I’d been on that year (and I’d traveled the fvck out of 2015), would be the one that would have the greatest impact on my life.
Exactly one year later, I found myself in almost the exactly the same situation I was in a year before; broke, jobless, hopeless and spending my last $500 on random a trip to Tobago with my friends for a beach soccer tournament. The only difference this time was that I had a direction. I had a purpose. And I definitely wasn’t gonna be sitting in the stands.
This time I was gonna storm the sands!
I was gonna give it everything I had, display my months of training and silence all the critics. I had a goal this time around, and though it wasn’t gold, I was prepared to take my first sole scorching step into the deep and daring world of beach soccer. This would be the beginning of my journey!
There was so much of it that was so wonderfully familiar, yet so contrastingly different, about my separate experiences at the tournament that I simply could not expect. Naturally, the atmosphere was comfortingly recognizable, with familiar faces and a similar set up as the previous year. The crowd, the music, the teams warming up on the outside, the teams going to war on the inside, the incessant and unbearable heat; I recognized it all, as though playing dated memories freshly before my eyes.
The differences, however, were the things I previously overlooked as a spectator, completely oblivious to the subtle struggles of the participants. The more prominent ones included the sunburn, the fatigue, the sizzling sand under your bare feet, the injuries, the profound physicality and sheer unpredictability of it all, the determination, motivation, frustration and even the pure elation!
No matter how much advice I gathered, nobody could have prepared me for the complete shock and awe that playing in my first tournament would bring, especially with the quality of players pitted against us. Coming into the tournament as the most inexperienced team without a doubt, our group was a true baptism by fire, hosting both finalists. I’m talking some of the best in the world here. The Ronaldo’s and Neymar’s and Messi’s (ok, maybe not Messi) of Beach Soccer, throwing up unstoppable bicycle kicks right in my face!
Still, despite that, we were an underdog force to be reckoned with…sorta. Not because of our skill or our ability, but because of our passion and pure tenacity. Throughout the tournament, our team put on a glorious display of courage and heart, even with minimal substitutes and all odds against us. Together, we stayed banded and unified through each loss, still managing to strengthen ourselves in the face of each defeat. We rose taller and tougher each time and improved with each game. And though still labeled the ‘whipping boys’ of the tournament, we held our heads high and proud of our accomplishment, as a TEAM. It was honestly one of my greatest moments of 2016, and I highly doubt there will be another like it before the break of the new year.
The last day of the tournament, however, was truly the moment that made this experience one forever etched on the walls of my museum of memories. The day after the prize giving, we were awarded an opportunity to all relax as a beach soccer community and fraternize and socialize amongst each other in paradise. Evenly boarded on 2 glass bottom boats, we toured the Tobagonian seas, sharing looks of amazement at the reefs and frolicking together in the clear shallow waters of the nylon pool. Friendships were birthed, selfies taken, information exchanged, cultures shared and advice offered, all culminating into an extraordinarily rare bonding moment that really made me respect the beach soccer fraternity. To behold a scene so genuine and joyful really made me appreciate this lifestyle and the experience. It has only engendered and further empowered my desire to raise my level and truly be a part of this beautifully budding society of great players and people alike. It was definitely a moment in my life that I shall not go quickly forgetting.
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