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Photo By Cpl. D. J. Wu | Soccer players in the 2013 Commanding General’s Intramural Soccer League practice at...... read more read more

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

07.12.2013

Story by Lance Cpl. Alejandro Bedoya

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - It is the most popular sport in the world, a universal language. It brings nations together in times of war through acts of aggression and athletic prowess. Fans travel far and wide for the pride of a team. They bleed their team’s colors. Those colors, fans and the intensity the players bring to the pitch paint what is known as the beautiful game. So many would ask, why even play the game?

The sport can be played anywhere; sandlot, rock-strewn field, or even asphalt- paved parking lots. The desert heart adds another problem to the equation. Many people would consider you to be crazy to chase a ball for 90 minutes in the desert heat and even if you do play here, it is only for bragging rights.
The season lasts the length of the summer and is forgotten shortly after it ends. The only fans you see on the sidelines of your games are family members or close friends.

The heat
The vast desert seems never ending, while the overbearing sun breaks your will to even go outside. You could easily stay indoors and watch the game on your television to avoid the desert heat. The season is played during the hottest part of the year. The average temperature during the summer in Twentynine Palms is 99 degrees and no matter what you are doing, you have a constant layer of sweat. There is not a cloud in sight and the shade seems like an oasis that you are constantly trying to reach and the ever-present heat is impossible to escape. The league carries on through these conditions but you are usually rewarded for how well you play.
No trophy, no problem

Here, you are playing for bragging rights. The teams competing are made up of units stationed aboard the Combat Center. Competitive nature is natural among service members but when they are competing against their surrounding units, that competitive nature is amplified.

There is something about passing by another player and rubbing it in his face that your team is the champion team.
Bragging rights are enough to meet the needs of these competitive athletes. Although, the players are forced to play in different conditions and on different fields, but they always a fight to win.

The field, the fight
The Combat Center has many fields used for sports and other events. They are also used to run combat fitness tests during the summer and once you see the fields prepped for the combat fitness test, you know they are going to move the games to another field.

You play on grass that is overtaken by sand in the out-field of an under-regulation-sized field. You have a lot of negatives when it comes to playing in the high desert but there is one answer you can say that out-does all of those negatives.

Love for the Game
You play because you love the game. You can be brand new to the sport or be raised by a family who eat, sleep and breathe the game. You may be playing in front of thousands of people or by yourself in your backyard. It could be the most beautiful day or you could be forced to play indoors but no matter where you are or what the conditions are, you are playing the beautiful game, the most popular game. You are playing soccer.