Field Turf Rubber

It's EVERYWHERE!  Mostly in my shoes, and in my laundry. 

If you don't know about field turf, it's an artificial sports field playing surface.  Not like astro-turf (how old ARE you, anyway?), it's a little bit softer and more comfortable, and you can wear cleats or tennis shoes on it.  And under the "grass," there are millions of these little pieces of shredded rubber.  Kind of like tires that have been ground up (maybe that's actually what it is?), and they've very small--like, I dunno, bigger than a pinpoint but smaller than a piece of rice.  So anyway, when you cut, or dive, or run on this stuff, the little pieces of rubber kick up and inevitably end up in your shoes and socks.  Small price to pay, but they get all over everything. 

This isn't typical for me; it's the offseason.  If anything, this time of year generally serves as training time for the Monument 10k, and otherwise a time of rest between my fall and spring River City football leagues.  But this year we decided to do a Movement Church winter flag football team (we're now 1-1 since my last post on the subject, don't want to talk about it) and tonight I got invited to go coach/train/play at a place called UTurn.  The best way to descibe this place without looking at their website is that it is a huge, faith-based sports training complex for kids up through high school age, and my buddy Robby (football) and my roommate's friend Santos (soccer) both coach and work there.  I got to see and talk to both of them tonight, which was great.

So, aside from the field turf rubber getting all over the place, here's what I learned tonight:

• this place is awesome. Not just because it is so big, or the fact that they have so many sports there (I saw football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis tonight and I'm sure there's much more) but                 also because of the ministry they are providing to kids in the city.  There were SO many kids in there tonight, and thinking of them being exposed to sports and the Gospel instead of drugs and gangs and whatever else kids are getting into these days is really refreshing and exciting.  The coaches that I came into contact with really know their stuff, and Robby was telling me he led a little devotional with the kids before I got there.  I got the impression that this is the norm, which is incredible. 

• I am not in high school anymore.  What I mean is, I'm not in that kind of shape. Toward the end of the night, the high school kids and the coaches played "hardy ball" which is kind of a mix between football and ultimate frisbee.  It was a lot of fun, and a lot of running, and I was beat by the end of it.  I mean, exhausted.  Having said that...

• I can still make plays, go up and catch the football.  Maybe I wasn't going against elite competition, but I have never claimed to be an elite athlete. But, those guys were very good and I was able to hold my own, which was nice to see and a lot of fun. 

So anyway, I guess dealing with little pieces of rubber is worth it.  Yeah, it totally is given what they have going on there.  Maybe I'll check into it a little more and see if they need any more staff or volunteers....