I just got back form competing in the University of Auckland inter-house soccer tournament. We played four games, one against each of the other residence halls. The tournament was held in the recreation center, which for a University of 30,000 people, is a tiny place. The games were played on a basketball court with roll-out nets and some of strangest rules I’ve ever played under. Probably the biggest difference from normal soccer I’ve played is that there is a sort of crease for the goalie. It’s was an arc around the goal with about a 10ft radius that no one can enter except the keeper, and the keep must stay inside of it. The penalty for accidently running in was a bit harsh in my opinion, essentially they would put the ball on the crease and let the other team take a whack at it. Think penalty kick from half the normal range.
The other difference from most soccer games that I’ve played in was the absolute lack of calls for arm fouls pushing, and obstruction. Slide tackling was a big no-no, but I don’t think I saw a single push blown for a foul. Now New Zealand doesn’t have any big football players like we would normally see in the states, and I mean American football, but instead they have big rugby players, and it seemed like every team except ours had brought at least one of them along to rough up the other teams. At one point I saw a guy who was probably 6’4” 220 with his elbows at shoulder level body check my teammate, a 5’10” 140 guy from Paris, and continue to shove him out of the way until his teammate came and made off with the ball. No foul for elbows, shoving, or even obstruction, when all would have been called easily in a normal Maine High school soccer game.
Despite our team being on average probably 30-40 pounds lighter then the other teams, we managed to hold our own, going 2-2, and coming inches away in the other two games. At one point the ball bounced off a post and then bounced off the back of our keeper in a game we lost 3-2. We did not make it to the finals, which probably was a good things, because having more on the line would have been a bit dangerous considering the physicality of the game.
All-in-all it was a fun time. It was good to hang out with some of the international house people I didn’t know so well before, and it was a lot of fun to finally get a chance to play some competitive soccer a bit. I also am glad to say that I, and the rest of my team made it through the draw unscathed, with only a few floor burns and minor bruises to show for the banging around we endured.
While I’m on the subject of recreation at UoA it is interesting to note the difference in cultures from an athletic standpoint. To my knowledge the University doesn’t have any athletic teams at all. I’ve heard they have some club teams like a club rugby team that visits other schools, but if they do have actual “varsity” type teams, I’ve not heard any mention of them at all so they can’t be well populated events. Also like I said, the recreation center is very small, the actual weight and cardio areas are probably around twice to 2.5 times the size of the Bates ones. But, considering that Bates it a little more the 1/20th the size, and the rec center here is open to the public, where as Bates’ gets almost no public traffic, the gym size to student ratio is massively bigger for Bates. Also, the University has no track. No indoor track or outdoor track, also, there doesn’t even seem to be a track in the area around here, the only athletic areas I saw at the local grammar school are rugby and soccer fields. On top of that, there is no pool here, though there is supposed to be a public pool about a 15 minutes walk from the dorm. Essentially, despite Bates’ small size, it has comparable athletics facilities, Auckland boasting a bigger weight area, and Bates having tracks, a pool, a hockey rink, and several fields. It’s amazing that our obesity rate is so high in the US when our culture, at least at the university level, seems to be so much more athletically inclined…