Over-40 Soccer Team: Want to play?

[dugutigi]

I’m a West Seattle soccer dad looking to start an over-40 men’s soccer team comprised of other West Seattle soccer enthusiasts. Before I had kids, I played on several Co-Rec teams. When I started coaching my 7 year old son last year, I realized that I miss playing. The only problem is that I just can’t run with the 25 yr old recent college grads anymore. I’m hoping there are others in West Seattle who share my experience.

I’m posting this message as an attempt to find out if there is enough interest to field a team. Please see details below. I have a couple of people interested but need a total of 15 players to make a solid commitment to the spring season. If you’re interested after reading the info below, please email me at dugutigi@comcast.net and let me know a little about yourself as well as your interest level: A) Full-time team member; B) Occasional substitute. Also let me know your level of playing experience.

The team would be in the GSSL (Greater Seattle Soccer League). Co-Rec is nice, but they don’t have an over-40 league. I’m in decent shape, but as I said above … I can’t run with the young guys anymore. The primary goal of this team will be to have fun while playing moderately competitive soccer. My vision is to get something going for the spring season and assess things after the first few games regarding our level of play and how many seasons each year we’d like to play.

Here is a little info both from me and from the GSSL:

Dates: The GSSL Over-40 league plays on Wednesday nights. The deadline for registering new teams is February 18 with games starting the first week of April for a 10 or 11-game season.

Times: Start times can range from 6:30pm to 9pm.

Location: The GSSL will attempt to schedule approximately half of the games at a designated home field. The location of the other games depends on the other teams and could be anywhere including Mercer Island, Shoreline, Green Lake, etc.

Cost: For a 15 player roster, the individual cost would be between $70 and $100 per season depending on the length of the season. Summer and winter seasons appear to be shorter than the spring and fall seasons.

GSSL Membership: Each player is required to join the GSSL at a cost of $25 for one year or $40 for two years. Registration is easily accomplished thru the mail by sending in a passport sized photo, application and check. Go to http://www.gssl.org for details.

Requirements: Be 40 or older at the time of the first game, love soccer, live in West Seattle, and be in moderate physical condition (i.e. you do some form of exercise at least a couple of times per week.) Slide tackling is allowed in the GSSL although I don’t know how much of it occurs in the Over-40 league.

Other Info: I have permission from a local pub in West Seattle to use its name as the team name (i.e. “Local Pub FC”) and potentially discount our beers on game night.

About me: I’m a dad with two kids – 7 and 3. I work downtown and live in the Gatewood neighborhood. I played as a walk-on in college for a couple of years and on several Co-Rec teams in Seattle. I have not played on an organized team in almost 10 years. I’m 46 yrs old and in good physical condition for my age.

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[inactive]

Hey there –

Just in case you can’t muster enough >40 guys for a men-only team, perhaps consider opening it up to coed :). I am pretty sure you could field a team with subs to spare if you did.

Just sayin’. :)

[Edit: Should clarify a couple of things. I am an >40 woman who hasn’t played for about three and a half years, but coached and played co-rec until then. There are likely more like me around WS]

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[dawsonct]

I never know if those hotmail E-mails go through, I always get an error report, but sometimes get replies.

If you didn’t receive an e-mail from me (Craig), let me know and I’ll figure out another way to get in touch.

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[dugutigi]

WestSeattleDood: Coed would be great but GSSL does not have coed teams. I am not aware of a league that offers coed play with an over-40 age bracket.

Dawsonct: I have not received an email from you yet.

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[dawsonct]

There’s time, I’ll figure it out somehow.

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[The King of Norway]

Dugutigi, your story sounds just like mine — over-40 dad, coaches his son in the WSSC, used to play Co-Rec and misses playing now … but I have to admit, I’m a little spooked by the notion of slide tackling in GSSF.

You see, I’ve only played Co-Rec before, and got started pretty late (age 32), so I wouldn’t classify myself as a particularly skilled player. I also don’t want to tear an ACL.

Are there others out there who have played in GSSF and can say what the over-40 league is like?

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[mrhineh]

Back in the day, the lower divisions (5th?) didn’t allow slide tackling. But that doesn’t always prevent the weekend footballers reliving their glory days and just plain running you over ;) (also holds true for the clumsy beginner).

As for the coed leagues, I think the Parks league (www.co-recsoccer.com) just started their winter league. http://www.co-recsoccer.com/

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[dugutigi]

King of Norway: I don’t have any experience yet with the GSSL. I’m with you on the slide tackling. I don’t like it either at this age. I could be wrong, but I can imagine too many players over 40 going down on the hard turf to often. You can get hurt performing a slide tackle as well. I think with some caution and smart play, you can avoid injury. The Over-40 league would have little success if players were dropping like flies. The only way to know for sure is to try it out for a season. If its too rough or not your style, you wouldn’t have to come back for another. Interestingly, I broke my ankle in a Co-Rec game about 8 yrs ago. You just never know what’s going to happen. In some cases a slide-tackle could be safer than getting run over. Let me know what you want to do.

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[maschu]

I have played in GSSL over 30 league for 3 years, and slide tackling is pretty rare. You’re more likely to get muscled off the ball than slide tackled.

There is a lot more contact, allowed under FIFA rules, so the flow of the games isn’t broken up by a lot of ticky tack fouls, like in Co-Rec or WSSA.

I’ve found that players still in the game at 40 are more wily then physically aggressive. Co-Rec, with inexperienced players, always seemed more dangerous with regard to injuries that GSSL.

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[dugutigi]

Maschu … that’s a great point. As I mentioned above, I broke my ankle in a Co-Rec game. I understand that GSSL will take your ID card away if you are red-carded and send it back after you serve your two-game suspension. Since we are all paying to play, I’m guessing/hoping that the serious fouls are kept to a minimum. Thanks for your input.

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