I play medium tier co-ed soccer, have for the last dozen years or so. I just hit 40, am slowing down and taking longer to recover from injuries. I know my time at a fun sprinting competitivish level is coming to an end but… Sure, I’ll miss the new dope friend aspext of it but equally importantly, 3 nights a week for years, I’ve been so happy to play and for a few hours a week the world, the future, politics, none of it mattered, all that mattered was stopping the bad guys from putting a ball in the wrong place and hopefully making it go to the right place (I’m defence, that half of the field is up to the other 6)
I dunno. Hoped maybe one of you has had to do this before and can share some thoughts. (I just had my foot clipped pretty bad, know I’m out for a few weeks but just came back off another injury etc…)
Edit: Goodness gracious, you folks are all so kind and supportive. Thanks so much, I’m definitely feeling less dejected and much more hopeful about the next stage of living an active and wild life.
There is lower impact sports that you can do late in life,
I climbed alpine summit with a 75 year old gentlemen, he sais that since he reached 70 he stopped going above 4000m, but still climbed.
I’ve seen 80 year old Kendo sensei, this frail gentleman struggle to climb a stair, but once he has a sword in the hand, he knows what you plan to do before you. (and I’ve seen 80 year old with lower level, many of them indeed stopped free sparing, but that’s all)
EDIT : Typo in "sport"word making the comment unclear
I switched to lower impact sports like kayaking/paddling and cycling as I aged. Still can be social, especially biking, but hard to replace a dedicated league soccer. Do y’all have pickle ball? That is pretty social in my area and probably will feel low impact compared to soccer.
As someone about to hit late 40’s I can give some applicable advice here. I manage two over 30 teams, a coed and a mens team. I play on both and pick up games when invited. I’ve had a long list of injuries but always come back.
You do need to change how you play, the competitive part has to drop down a bit, basically let the younger peeps have those 50-50 balls, don’t go for headers that have any kind of pace, avoid contact with players you know are willing to injure you.
But most importantly, go to physical therapy and collect the appropriate workout. Hit that workout 3-5 times per week and don’t stop. If you can’t get your workouts in, don’t play that week.
This is heartbreakingly reasonable advice. (I play centre D so almost all the gameplay changes you suggest are my bread and butter. Probably time to learn a new position if I want to stay intact.)
Great advice on the workouts, probably safer to only play if I’ve been working out that week AND it’s great motivation to actually go to the gym.
