大象传媒

鈥淵ou can鈥檛!鈥� chorused my friends. 鈥淚t鈥檚 boys only.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a stupid rule,鈥� I replied.
We cornered Mr Salvage, our teacher.
鈥淲e want to play football,鈥� I blurted out, bluntly.
鈥淢尘尘鈥�.鈥�
鈥淲e want a girls team鈥� said Laura, my best friend.
鈥淰ery well. Find a few more girls and we鈥檒l meet for training Friday鈥�

Friday arrived quickly. It was a lovely, bright day and听 twelve girls gathered on the school field. Some were classmates,听 others I didn鈥檛 recognize. Mr Salvage divided us into teams. The听 bigger girls defending, me in midfield and Laura up front.

We played until exhausted; Mr Salvage was impressed. He now knew what he was dealing with. 鈥淩ight girls,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was great. You really enjoyed yourselves.鈥� Friday training became a regular fixture.

West Ham under 12's

That half term, dad enrolled me on an intensive West听Ham training course. I was the only girl. At first I felt slightly听intimidated but soon started enjoying myself. I began training听regularly with the West Ham under 12鈥檚. My developing skills were soon evident and Laura was quick to听join me on evening training sessions. Playing against nationwide听 teams was doing us the world of good; as was practising something听 until we got it right.

Our school team was soon ready for new challenges, but our听results showed, we just weren鈥檛 good enough, yet! It was around this time that my knees began to hurt. I would hobble home from training sessions and spend the night writhing about听in agony.

Days of pain

A consultant diagnosed Chondromalacia patella, very little cartilage left underneath my kneecaps. Under doctor鈥檚 orders I cut down my training. Next month we听lost again, our opponents were older and bigger.听 We tried hard and听played well, but I听 only lasted twenty minutes, I had let everybody down. Playing even a little was hard work, and there were always听days of pain to follow.

Three months later the doctor delivered a devastating blow.
鈥淪top playing football now, or you鈥檒l be in a wheelchair by听your mid-twenties.鈥�
I sat there dumbstruck.
鈥淣o football at all?鈥� I mumbled in disbelief.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 right, no physical activity whatsoever!鈥� He stopped听for emphasis. 鈥淟ight swimming should be ok, your knees need time to听recover.鈥� With that last remark, he ushered us out of the door. So that鈥檚 that then. My football career was over and in its听
place, a great gaping hole