I played soccer, or football. Started to play when I was 7 years old and continued until I was 15. One of the biggest mistakes of my life was to quit, but I didn't fully realize that until years later.
I started to drink, smoke and party on the weekends when I was 15 years old, so playing football wasn't as interesting anymore. Especially as my coach was a fucking retard. I actually gave up on football in the middle of a game because my coach was screaming at me and calling me names during an offside.
I wasn't sure about it being offside or not, and my assistant coach was an immigrant who didn't know the language too good. Everyone was screaming, especially my coach, and I tried to listen to my assistant coach when the referee called an offside. He told me to throw the ball, which I obviously thought was extremely weird, so I just stood there like a nutcase, meanwhile my coach yelled stuff like: "Are you fucking stupid?!" etc...
So I had enough and walked away. Left the field in the middle of the game and never looked back again.
The year before, I was actually given a Diploma for being the best defender amongst kids that were born in -85. Best defender in Sweden, so things could potentially have been really different for me... But, having a retarded coach, cigarettes and alcohol was pretty much the reasons for me to give up on that dream.
Also, this was only one of the many, many times my coach acted like an idiot. My father actually punched him in the face during training at one point. That time, because my coach called my mother really inappropriate things. Can't remember the exact stuff, but pretty much things like "whore" and "cunt" etc.
The best option would obviously have been to look for another team. Both my parents pushed for that, but I wasn't interested. I wanted to play with my team mates. Having a coach like that on top of that, well... I think I was brainwashed and I most likely thought that any other coach would've been the same.
Damn. Tough times and it does sound like it could have been very different for you given a bit more luck and a bit less of a dickhead coach. Sport is great for keeping you out of trouble - still works these days too if you can find something to entertain.
Very true, but hey. I had an awesome time between the hangovers. :D