Calling it quits on competitive sport

PHOTO: By Jason Charters on Unsplash

This is an opinion piece, based off personal experience.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved sport. One of my favourite words to say as a child was “run”. Whenever I could, I’d be outside playing with a ball, rain or shine.

My parents signed me up for sport as soon as possible, registering me at a local football club, Papanui-Redwood AFC, to play under-4s.

Little did they know, this would be the beginning of my 16-year footballing journey. From humble grassroots football to playing at one of the country's best academies, representing Canterbury at national age group level and playing in the Southern League.

After spending most of my life playing football, you’d think I’d want to keep playing at a high level and see where the sport could take me. In reality, I did the opposite, quitting just after my 20th birthday.

Going from training at least three times a week, along with a game on Saturday, to playing socially every second weekend seemed like a pretty dramatic change for me on paper. I thought I’d end up changing my mind or have regrets, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Playing competitively was awesome. Some of my best memories and best friendships have come through playing football, and it’s shaped who I am today.

However, when my life essentially revolved around football, I didn’t realise how engrossed in it I actually was.

My first few seasons playing football were definitely not memorable for me. It wasn’t until I was 10 years old that things started to shift.

My entire team had joined a new academy that had started, called Christchurch Football Academy, which is now known as the academy for Christchurch United.

At the academy, I trained three times a week and also played a game every Saturday, something no 10-year-old should be doing. This became my routine for the next four years.

By the time I was 15, the academy offered a training schedule was similar to the training schedules of the professional academies in Europe, with five sessions a week.

Training pretty much every day meant it wasn’t really a surprise I improved a lot that year. By the end of the season I was selected to represent Canterbury and Tasman at nationals.

With COVID throwing a bit of a spanner in the works, I started at a new club, focused on making an impact in men’s football.

But this is where my football journey began to close. Trainings, university and life commitments all piled up on me, and I was starting to get sick of it. The idea of performing every week seemed more like a chore than a passion.

Making the decision to step away felt weirdly easy at the time. After being committed for a big portion of my life, I didn’t need much convincing to stop playing.

It’s been just over a year since I quit playing competitive sport, and since I stepped away, life has been a lot more enjoyable.

The energy I put into football, I can now put into my relationships, studies and goals. And, shock horror, those areas have all considerably improved.

Sport is awesome. I loved playing at a high level, but just because you’ve done something for ages doesn’t mean you're committed for life.

I know a lot of other people who share similar experiences to mine. All it takes is stepping back and looking at what you’re doing it for.

Do you love it? Or do you just not know life without it? Sometimes stepping away can be scary, but sometimes? The grass is greener on the other side.