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…)
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.
Those are really great suggestions, especially as I already enjoy or have enjoyed half of them. I haven’t kayaked in at least a dozen years and I live on Canada’s West freakin’ coast!
Pickleball seems like a slower and thus lifelong version of tennis, is that kind of the idea? Can you just not smash that sort of ball very hard/far?
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 have some guys in my team who are over fifty and still play every week, so it certainly is possible. One is the goalie :P The other does a lot of jogging which helps him stay fit. Stuff like yoga and calisthenics also help prevent injuries. So you might try looking into that and see if it helps you stay in the game.
Always heartening to hear anout a team with other greybeards! And honestly, with one minor edit, you are absolutely right.
So you might try lo̶o̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ actually doing that and see if it helps you stay in the game.
I keep meaning to yoga but it’s there with drink and smoke less, wake up earlier, donate more etc. But if yoga keeps the games going a few more years…
I use some videos from this channel. Usually 30 minutes, three times per week, alternating with soccer/calisthenics days. Works perfectly for me.
(Specifically # 4, 5 and 26 from this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBfRLLhSBb-Ce7jXhButzHMHoQcAf_dgE
But they a lot of other good videos as well, so be sure to look around.)
Thanks! I’ve tried Yoga with Adrienne but should probably keep switching it up to keep things fresh!
Martial arts
I did a couple
I miss them, but I don’t miss the constant pain in my joints. I have a thing where they were deteriorating, and all the exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles actually made shit worse unfortunately
Martial arts
Is this where your username comes from or is that a happy coincidence?
Sorry to hear about the deterioration, that sounds rough.
My name is because I enjoy fisting
The joints will always be fucked, but they’re slightly less fucked when they’re not being constantly abused
It’s rough, but it is what it is
I’d still play some hockey if invited. But I’d probably suck and/or hurt myself. 😅
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.
I hear you… Man I hear you… I’m more an attacker but what I’ve found is that I’d rather play with like minded individuals that we all enjoy eachother. We don’t win most of our games anymore but we do still score goals and win games. They know that putting direct balls at my head means I’m going to let it go by. But one I can sprint on? Yeah baby, it’s a footrace. If you play center back, consider playing as a target forward. A lot of the same skills, but instead of running at players, you’re more back to goal, hold up play… Bringing your teammates into play. Finding that clutch through ball for the winger.
If you want to continue this conversation on a regular basis, I’m super up for it. We’ve got 50+ERS on our team and at this very moment I’ve been out for two months due to a back injury. You are not alone and I can help navigate.
You’re fully right on the attitude. Part of why I love these teams is somehow we keep attracting just awesome groups of people so even though everyone plays their heart out, it’s still laughs and loves when we get ragdolled.
Interesting idea moving up to forward. I always joke about how scary that half of the field is but I’m not a terrible distributor and don’t mind just being bigger at people in the box…
I’ll definitely follow up with you at some point if you’re down. Right now, I’ve got to heal this dumb foot but then, yoga, the gym and maybe slowly transitioning to forward to get some practice there with friends before trying that on a new team.
Really appreciate the kind words and support!
Of course, tag my username if you want, reach out anytime. Who knows, maybe we play in the same area.
55m here.
Was an avid volleyball player, even though I’m 5’8" (1.72m) tall. I have very strong legs and could meet a lot of 6’2" plus guys at the top of the net.
Skydiver with 4500 jumps, spent a few years doing it professionally.
Now, my knees and back are shot. I can still play volleyball, but my jumps are about half what they used to be and I need to wear knee braces. Skydiving is almost completely out, unless I jump a very soft opening canopy as I have a disk bulge that is pressing on a sciatic nerve. If I get slammed on opening that could present a LOT of issues for me.
Now I focus on those things that I can do. I’ve always been an avid hiker and there is a nice state park nearby. I try to hike the trails there every day. Also I keep up with working out. Weights and other exercises. I’m not trying to build muscle, just keep what I have.
Right now, I’m sitting here with a very sore back and aching muscles, due to helping out my wife’s Figure Skating Club to setup for a competition this weekend. That involved moving a lot of tables, chairs, podiums and other things for 4 hours last night.
I think I’m going to take it easy today.
Trampolining and cheerleading. Injured my back so I had to stop sadly.
Last time I went on a trampoline I tore a leg muscle, so that was fun.
I live in a city that has their cycling priorities in order so I cycle places as much as possible.
I grew up in an environment where sports has not really been encouraged, so I never got into team sports. When I turned 30 I noticed my body is degrading, so I started going to the gym. I had knee problems for a long time but I exercised them away. Now I started running outside and I really like it. I don’t think I will ever stop as long as I can do sports, however ball sports are usually way more high impact sports and it’s easier to hurt yourself.
If it’s available where you live, perhaps consider sports that are played on the sand, like beach soccer and/or beach volleyball. I understand that those tend to be much easier on your joints and less injury-prone.
Oh interesting, I’ll look into that. I’ve always felt pretty tuckered after beach volleyball so just assumed that was somehow higher impact.
I switched from team sports to individual or 1 vs 1 where risk of injury is significantly lower.
Badminton, Paddle ball, ultimate frisbee, yoga, cycling.
Specifically for soccer, there’s O40 teams (and even beyond, up to “walking soccer/football”), and if you can change your headspace just a bit, you can drop down to a more recreational level and still enjoy the sport you love. Just be mindful that they’re not really the bad guys, and you can still try to stop them and shut out the rest of the world. As a chronic overthinker, that simple headspace can be a really healing place to be for a while.
I didn’t even start playing until I was already fat and almost thirty, but I had a good ten years of playing indoor off and on; yes… forty, but you almost certainly have much better fitness than I ever did, LOL. Speaking of indoor, it really limits the duration of your sprints and whether on offense or defense you can “manage” more of the field without the same physical strain. The consistent conditions are nice too, though many facilities smell like sweat at all times.
This was really well put, thanks! I’d actually been worried about the older age groups for much the opposite reason, the couple I’ve seen have been hard competitive with a lot of Europeans who used to play at higher levels. And I’m a 5 - 15 years older than most of my team mates so I’d have to join pretty much solo. But I imagine there are a bunch of different leagues of all abilities/aggression/competitiveness.
Have you looked into age group leagues? My friends are in their late thirties and play roller hockey in a thirty plus league
I have! I’ve only watched one league and it was wildly competitive (lots of Europeans who played at much higher levels back home) but I’m sure there must be some at an appropriate level.
The thing that has really stopped me is that on most of my teams I’m 5 - 15 years older than my teammates so they couldn’t come with me and I love them. But, maybe it’s just an opportunity to make new friends
At 41 I switched to Jiu-Jitsu which isn’t any safer but is even more fun. Unsure why so many of us old guys do BJJ but it’s a thing.
That does sound fun though I feel I’d find a way to break my own neck…!
Fun fact: there are plenty of ways in Jiu-Jitsu to break your own neck. Possibly more ways than there are for other people to break your neck.
Ahahaha, well I do love tempting fate so maybe…!
