It was hot, damn hot, and humid. They had not played since February. It was the first Saturday in June, 2020. The country was slowly opening but sports had yet to resume. Professional sports were beginning, but with absent crowds and in some creative venues, piped in noise. It's also June 6th and the remembrance of D-Day. It was fitting that an international contingent of Orangemen Players was assembled. Karl from Switzerland, Gene from Turkey, Rosie from the UK, and the remainder from the US with various nationalities including the Dutch in Jason, the Italian in Mooch, the Swedish in Ogre, and Polish heritage in Jan.
The Orangemen, playing the beautiful game since the 70's were keen to get back out on the pitch. Today wouldn't have been possible had Ogre Ogren not orchestrated the game and the rules of the match. First, we would not violate the Virginia protocol of not gathering in groups of 10 or more. We had nine signed up to play. Mo, Mr. Quality HVAC himself, was a no-show, because he had customers. Given the heat, Mo's priority would be to broken air conditioners in the region. Given the heat, he made the right decision, not to mention the income, Mo missed a great game.
But first, more of Ogre's Rules. Having spent some time studying aerial and ground warfare in his day job, he was keen to set up engagement zones. Jan and Mooch discussed the intricacies of the FSCL, but there would be no coordinated fires for this game. Ogre described his vision of offensive and defensive zones from which players of either function had to remain until the ball transitioned. We would play half field with four on offense, four on defense, with Gene playing keeper. Face masks would be worn and the social distance of 6 feet would be maintained at all times. Videos from players in Germany had a unique way to keep the social distance which involved the use of shopping carts and gas masks. This protocol was outside the scope of what Ogre had in mind for a bit of fun and exercise for a Saturday morning.
As the group assembled and took the pitch the rules were explained. Resistance (and confusion) was immediately apparent but it was also apparent that it was either too early in the morning, or a few modifications would be necessary in order for any of this to be any fun. Never-the-less it was important to give it a try to see if it would work. The outer zones would be for offense and ran the length of the field. As would a single zone in the center of the pitch. In between would be the zone for defense as well as the penalty box. No one would be permitted into the goal box but the keeper. The immediate result, beyond the confusion, showed early. Strikes on goal would all have to occur from long range. Passing would be from long range. And transition from offense to defense required nothing more but the keen understanding of the mass confusion on who would go where. At this point an insurrection was discussed among some of the more senior players, in particular the Jag with Polish heritage, and the Manager of the Orangemen, Mooch. Why couldn't we simply play a short sided game, 4 v 4 with small goals, a lot of space, and the understanding that all players would merely respect the 6 foot separation between each other.
As we watched a few shots from the outside, miss both goal and field, two things occurred. First, COVID rust was real. No one had touched a ball in three months. Second, the shots from the outside we understandably under-satisfying. Someone had to speak up. Mooch started the insurrection by yelling out the suggestion to Ogre. Fortunately Orge is a man of nimble and flexible thought, flexibility being the key to air power. We stopped play and immediately adjusted the pitch. Gene would leave the goal and enter the field on the dark side. Two lacrosse goals were moved to opposite ends of the field. A familiar game ensued. 4 v 4 is well understood by all. The movement, the passing. The only adjustment necessary was an understanding of how close a defender could attempt to tackle a ball from an opponent. The short answer was the player with the ball had an inviolate area of six feet around them that could not be breached. Thus lacking a complete inability to control the ball, the player on the ball, would have an infinite about of time to decide what to do. Thus the new rule, as discussed, would be to allow the player with the ball four touches. When the pass would come in, the strike on goal would require only two touches. As play began there was confusion over the touch rule with many players were only taking two touches. In the prime of their lives, let alone with COVID rust, two touches is quite sporty. Eventually it was decided that while in the field, three touches would be permitted. One for the first trap, one to maneuver the ball, and one to pass. The game was officially on.
Run of play was open, passing was frequent, and shots were taken. It took awhile for the first goal but then a few more would follow. With Gene playing deep defense for the dark team, Karl (with his COVID beard) would play deep defense for the light side. Jason, Jason's son, and Rosie (I just had a baby during COVID) were passing, over lapping their runs, and shooting.
Ogre, Mooch, and John, would similarly run the length of the field, running into space, passing and shooting on the large man who always seems in position to block some pretty awesome shots.
Passing and crossing runs into space pointed out an interesting feature of the social distancing rule. It was easy to see the open areas of the pitch without much thinking. Conversely on defense, it was necessary to immediately consider the passing options and prepare to close on the passing lanes. This was an unexpected benefit of the rules and could potentially be a training option to teach both offense and defense once normal playing would resume. Three touches worked well given distance and time all players would now have on the ball. The only final tweak would be to call out violations of the social distancing space. This initially occurred when a defender had time to close the ball before arriving at it's intended target. In these cases, with two players vying for the ball the distance rule was violated. Some (Ogre) initially thought Rosie would be the violator due to his intense competitive nature stemming from his fighter pilot background in the Royal Air Force. However it wasn't Rosie who was the violator. Karl, would be the player who frequently violated the rule, followed by Jan, and then Ogre. By the next match, I believe, with a few instructions when the violation is apparent, we will all learn to play this virus thwarting safety space.
The game progressed well. Space and runs were continuous with crosses coming in and wonderful shots taken. Most shots still showed the effects of COVID rust but several found the back of the net. On one such play, Mooch ran into space between defenders and received the ball with only Gene, and his intimidating size, blocking any real attempt. Out of touches Mooch was forced to shoot. Gene blocked the ball, as anticipated. What wasn't anticipated was the ball bouncing up and back taking a fortunate and nifty bounce just ahead and to Mooch's right. Strangely, Mooch realized that Gene had touched the ball and thus his touch count was reset to zero. As the ball bounced beside him and was at waist height, Mooch, in an incredible feat of dexterity, twisted his leg and brought his foot to kick the ball with the outside of his right foot. A move typically used to return a bouncing ball in the path of your run. In this case, there was no run, only the net. It was a goal Mooch will have mounted and placed on his mantle.
With an adequate break in the middle for water and another thirty minutes of running, it was almost time to call it quits. Everybody's legs were approaching rubber as the five minute notice was given. At that point Jason declared the last goal. And we returned to play. Soon the ball came up the right side of the field and Rosie would run onto it. Sensing Karl had drifted slightly out of the mouth of the goal, Rosie hit a long range ball beating Karl to his right and hitting the upright and glancing the ball into the goal. Rosie would bag the game winner from the outside. I'm compelled to call it the best shot of the game, except it did strike the upright. A clean stretch of the net would have been spectacular. Thus by unanimous agreement (of the author), the goal of the game goes to Mooch, who's goal, as described earlier, was a unique combination of rules and cagey wit. Of which both were necessary to beat the large man, standing in the goal.
And so ended the very first COVID Match. The success of the match led immediately to the decision to play again, on Saturday morning, in a fortnight. Without a doubt the rules can be tweaked to aid both the flow and safety of the match. The social distancing worked as did the limit on touches. Everybody had plenty of touches and exercise too last the week. Thanks again to Ogre for having the vision and drive to get us back on the pitch!!
