#30 😮 The toughest GOAL on earth 🌏

The most dangerous goal

Standing next to the steel post of a field hockey goal on a starry winter evening, a column of steam rising off me, I would wait for the opposing player at the top of the scoring circle to take a shot. My friend Kris, the goalie, would stand in the centre of the goal, while Jay and I, the defenders, covered a goalpost each. Kris was fully kitted out with a helmet, groin guard, and dense foam safety gear covering nearly his whole body. Jay and I each had a mouthguard, a pair of shin pads and our bones.

I’d be gasping for breath from the exertion of sprinting madly about, and my heart would be pumping so hard I’d almost be at the point of nausea. Waiting for that shot on goal – on us – with a ball as hard as concrete that can hit 160kph and change direction with the slightest nick of stick or foot – it felt like the height of danger.

I loved it.