After such a monumental day on Weds, Thursday night found me in classic Barthold form. I had spent the previous couple weeks trying without success to play for a local men's club team from Camp's Bay, which lies just on the other side of Signal Hill from our apartment, and I received a call from one of the players at 4:15 asking if I could play in a 6:30 game. I was feeling the urge to have a nice and relaxed evening, but this was my chance to debut for Camps Bay FC! I worked it out in my head...it would be perfect. I could leave Khayelitsha at 5, drop the second GRS car off at HQ by 5:40 so that someone else could use it the following day, run up the hill to Kloof and get there a little after 6, grab my soccer stuff and a peanut butter and honey sandwich before taking a taxi to Camps Bay, and arrive at the field at 6:20. And then the game would end right around 8:30, and I could take another taxi so that I could make it to our GRS team's 5v5 game at 9:00 back in Cape Town proper!
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| Camp's Bay FC's Field |
Yes, it was a little nuts, but I'm so glad I did. The evening was so perfect, Camp's Bay FC's field sits right on the ocean, and I made a great debut for the whole second half (at left back, of all places) in a tough 1-0 loss to their main rivals Green Point. I was a little late to the 5v5 game but I made it for the second half - much to my teammates delight, for they only had one substitute until I arrived. One of the former interns who plays with us turned to me at one point to say, "Thank you so much for coming even after you already played" as if I had sacrificed something to make sure they had enough numbers. Looking back at the craziness of my last 5 hours, I laughed and replied, "Are you kidding me? Two games in one night? I would do this every day if I could!"
Until the next installment...and if you find yourself bored before then, do a google map search of "Camp's Bay FC, the Meadway, Camp's Bay South Africa." It's definitely not the worst location for a football pitch!
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