Our World: Stepping outside for a pre-game ritual

Photo by GREG KAHN

Florida Everblades play the game two-touch before they hosted the South Carolina Stingrays at Germain Arena on March 19, 2010. Greg Kahn/Staff

They are competitive in everything they do, even warming up before a game.

Florida Everblades players arrive to Germain Arena in suits, most strolling into the locker room talking on their cell phone. They enter through a non-descript blue-green door, disappearing into the shadows of the arena.

But an hour before they step onto the ice, some come back outside, with a soccer ball.

The late afternoon sun warms the peach colored exterior of the arena, palm trees sway from a gentle breeze. Freight trucks delivering goods occasionally pass though the narrow road on the backside of the building. A handful of Everblades players trickle out of the locker room, dressed in a variety of team warm-up attire, some with sweatpants and pulled up socks, others in long-sleeve T-shirts and shorts. They are laughing and joking with one another, completely oblivious of the roar of traffic from vehicles on Interstate 75, less than a quarter of a mile from where they stand.

The game they are about to play is sometimes called two-touch, sometimes referred to as “sewer ball,” but the rules are generally the same. The players gather into a circle and begin to juggle the soccer ball using everything but their hands, only allowing two touches per person before it needs to be passed on. If the ball hits the pavement, the last player to touch it is out.

This goes until one player is left, then everyone is back in for a new round. The players say the winner of the day gets to sign the ball with his number.

“See all those number sevens?” Milan Gajic, who wears number seven for the Everblades, asked as he showed the soccer ball. The scuffed up white and red ball had numbers written in black marker all over it, with the majority of markings being Gajic’s number.

Hockey players have been playing the game since they can remember, said Shea Guthrie, right winger for the Everblades. Other players remarked the pre-game ritual keeps the guys loose and stretches their legs. The popularity of the game is evident by the Everblades opposing team, the South Carolina Stingrays, also playing two-touch a couple hundred feet down the road, outside of their locker room.

The Everblades appear to go full speed to stay in the game, sometimes leaping over the curb and racing around a tree or two to keep the ball in the air. Left wing Mathieu Roy flicks the ball up with his foot and passes it with a header to Colin Nicholson, who heads it down toward the feet of Gajic. Gajic hits it once with his foot, but it launches high and far. Gajic chases his errant pass to correct it, but can’t get to the ball before it lands on the ground. The group laughs at seeing their teammate’s blunder, and Gajic grumbles as he goes to stretch down the road away from the rest of players still in the game.

Hockey fans begin to park their cars in the VIP section of the arena, and some as they get out, catch a glimpse of the Everblades players behind the arena and stop to watch for a minute. It’s a different look to the players they are used to seeing covered in padding and helmets, effortlessly skating on the ice.

It’s getting closer to game time.

Less than 30 minutes after they began, it’s the final game. One by one, each player heads inside when they get out until only Ross Carlson and Roy remain. In the final battle, Roy twice gets Carlson to mess up giving Roy the day’s victory. After it’s all over, both players jog to the door and once again disappear into the darkness of the arena.

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Connect with Greg Kahn at www.naplesnews.com/staff/greg_kahn