People + Soccer = Friends

New to Boston/sick of your friends/looking for something new to do?

Well, you’re not alone. Back in ye olde tymes when I was ONEin3 manager, a steady stream of young people would email or call me asking what was the best way to break into Boston and/or make some new friends.

I always told them there are at least three excellent things to do: Volunteer, take a class, play sports.

We’ll explore each of these on the blog, but this post will focus on the one closest to my heart.

When I was a kid, I played sports all day every day. I loved it. And then I went to college and did other stuff (wholesome stuff, I swear!).

When I graduated and started sitting in a cube all day, I really missed it…aaaaand I got really out of shape. One of my co-workers asked me if I had any interest in playing soccer on Wednesday nights and I jumped at the chance even though I hadn’t played organized soccer since 6th grade.

I loved it. Like Garth, I like to play.

I was terrible, but so was pretty much everyone else, and we went out to Irish Village for a couple pints after our games. It was a great way to get to know some people outside my social circle.

Over the years, the cast of characters on our team has changed quite a bit, but these teammates are now good friends. Team sports has a way of building strong bonds from thin air.

For those interested in getting started, here are 3 good organizations that manage lots of sports leagues (from soccer to ultimate frisbee, flag football and a lot more) and other athletic social activities. All 3 take individuals, place them on teams and have leagues for every level.

• Social Boston Sports is a long-time partner of ONEin3 and a cool organization. In addition to leagues (soccer, dodgeball, kickball, bowling etc.), they run ski trips, throw parties, host game nights and much more.
• FSSG Boston runs the soccer league I play in in Revere as well as leagues in softball and soccer in lots of other places.
• Boston Ski and Sports Club is a behemoth. As you can probably guess from their name, they do a lot of ski trips. I hear they even go to Europe. They also cover pretty much any sport you can think of playing.

So there ya go. Get out there, run around and have fun!

PS. I can’t end this blog without a little bragging. My team, the LVPs (named for a teammate/friend who disappeared for months when he got a girlfriend ((what’s that about??) happy Valentine’s Day!)) is straight up championship material.

Here we are after we won our first FSSG Sunday Morning Indoor Championship, effectively proving that we could be professionals if we wanted to: