Football, or soccer to the Americans (bless 'em, they'll figure it out one day), was the way I breathed when I was a kid. We all need to find a way that our entire self breathes and not only the lungs. It was all of me out there on the pitch, feeling that I was part of something, a community, that together we were more than we would otherwise ever be.
The pitch is where my soul became pitch perfect, where the notes others found discordant became a kickin' beat.
Football was the life-support system for my soul, my coach was another parent. It mattered that much. Still does.
Football was the way my entire self sang - a kind of music played in a way only the players and fans could hear. It was as if it was our opera, a tale of emotions told in struggle for the chance of earned glory.