Pickup soccer brings diverse crowd, passionate players

by Nick Casarez | Staff Writer

On Friday nights, the Northwoods Ice Center does something a little out of the ordinary. The secondary ice rink gets turned into an indoor soccer field, making the Ice Center, which is normally a popular hub for middle school kids, into a place where high school kids and adults alike can come and engage in friendly pickup games. The cost at the door is ten dollars, and admission enables one to play from 6:30 to 8:00 in the evening. Each game is five minutes long, and the number of players on a team can range from four to eight.

“I come almost every Friday night, and I try to bring some friends with me if I can,” Churchill junior Colton Wilson said.

Enjoyment is priority for the players, but stiff competition exists among the teams, which compete on a week-to-week basis.

“It’s a really cool environment! We all love playing soccer, and since most of us come so often, we all know each other by now,” Johnson junior Nathan Droulliard said.

Northwoods is more than just a fun place to come play soccer, though. Players take advantage of their time in the unofficial arena to perfect skills they’ve been working on, or to perfect their touch on scoring with the smaller goals used in indoor competition.

“You will see a lot of experimentation on the field. Guys are definitely trying to get better out here and improve their game,” Wilson said.

This aim presents a unique diversity in the range of players present. Sportsmen and enthusiasts from many schools come, and students from Reagan, Churchill, Johnson, and Cibolo Steele can be seen among the adult crowd that regularly appears.

“I’ve met a lot of new people thanks to indoor! They seem to come from everywhere,” Droulliard said.

This activity is unique experience, and students with nothing better to do on a Friday night would find themselves in good company at the Ice Center. One might even become a regular.

“I’ve been coming to this for a while now, and I plan to keep coming for a long time,” Wilson said.

 

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