The Spirit of Soccer ⚽ runs in my blood line .

I love football, no doubt about that.
I started kicking them ever since I was very young because my dad was the coach of our village football team, and he has raised all his children in the same manner, coming to love the game despite gender differences. Then it is often not permitted for females to play games, with my mom always screaming that the place for ladies is in the kitchen and not on the field.

Back then, we often kicked footballs even without prior knowledge of the technique involved. Running around the field,dribbling, and being able to score were the highlights for us. There was nothing like offside, free kicks, or any of those rules. We just played until we got tired.

I played more games in my junior high school days until the day I broke my leg. The pain of fixing the bone gradually reduced my love for soccer. A senior girl had kicked my legs with the intention of kicking the ball when that incident happened, and her bones were really strong against my tiny legs. Ever since I keep wondering that football isn't usually all of the fun we see, players go through a lot to keep fit and to heal when injuries of this nature occur.

My favorite position in the game is being a striker. I dislike being a defender because I feel like they often take too much blame if the game goes sour for the team, and goalkeepers too often suffer when they lose a match.
My love for playing physical football decreased after that accident, and I have since been following football games from a distance. I love country matches and have supported my country's team, the supper eagles, since years ago. I know of some key players then, like J.J. Okocha, Kanu Nwako, and Vincent Enyama. Some of them are retired from playing football now, but their names are still on our lips, as are the heroes who have won the African Cup of Nations for us in the past.

Visiting my neighbors house to watch football when we were yet to have a TV set in our house was the easiest thing we did back then. Since everyone always comes together at this common location, we formed a bond of unity.
In recent times, we now have viewing centers all across the town, and we often pay tokens to watch matches since all families cannot afford the satellite subscription.

Football has been one game that has always brought both unity and disunity to my family. We all love the game equally, with the exception of my mom, but the individual picking of favorite teams separated us. While my dad is a Chelsea fan, one of my male siblings picked Manchester United. We often take turns making jokes about each other when one team isn't performing well in any of the leagues played.

One thing that my mom has always hated about football is how my dad was willing to spend almost half of his salary to either purchase newspapers or stay updated about matches, tables, and all. He also spent a good amount of money to watch football in viewing centers. Sometimes my mom gets really angry because dad could forget to buy dinner but never forget his money for a newspaper or anything that has to do with a football purchase.
This is just how deep the spirit of soccer has gone into my family's bloodline.

Aside from the game of soccer, other games I have loved and played are:

Table tennis was another of my favorite games; I played it the whole time I was in senior high school. We all carved out our rackets with unused wood because they were expensive and not common, although the tennis eggs were always available, and we replaced them the instant they got broken.

The day I tried playing volleyball in school, my team was beating us because we all consist of a number of short girls. Ever since then, I knew that apart from skills, one needs a basic requirement of height to be able to play volleyball.

Another games I was once addicted to whot and ludo. You can hardly beat me in either of these games, and one will always be wondering how I often get lucky with the dice or the right card in terms of whot.

One game I never dared to try were all the others that had to do with races or running. I didn't have enough physical strength to try these, but I always supported the fastest runner in school.

Now, away from the physical games, the only online games I have ever played were the simpler ones on our mobile devices, Temple Run, and others. I could remember how we spent hours playing them. Ever since the advent of play stations and mortal combat, I have never tried playing anyone since they are bloody games, and either virtual or physical, I cannot stand the presence of blood. I have watched my neighbor's children enjoy these games, but I never give them a glance.
Maybe in the near future, if I find some subtle games on the PlayStation, I may feel attracted to them, but for now, I stick with the game of football.

• All images were Canva generated.

This is my submission to the #aprilinleo daily prompt day 19 and i invite you to check out this link for more interesting topics and be a participant.

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