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29.12.2006

ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION

Throughout my youth all kinds of sports occupied much of my time.

I was e.g. the goalkeeper of one of my town's youth-teams in soccer, or until I went away from home to study in the junior-college at Laugarvatn, a tiny village up in the country located in the south of Iceland.

There I carried on as a goalie in the school's team, when competing with teams from other continuation schools.

I also made the school's volleyball-team, which used the name of the local team, thus making us competible in Iceland's highest league among the best.

I and the late Sveinn Sigurdur Gunnarsson made it possible for us to take part in the National Competition of Icelandic Youth Clubs on Akranes in 1975, when we contributed to the starting of a new volleyball-division of the Youth-Club in Keflavik.

We rounded up four of our mates, thus making it a legimate team.

The fact that only the two of us had ever played the game or that I was the only one who had ever played a serious match or that we were beaten each and every time didn't matter at all.

The true Olympic-spirit of the Icelandic people;

to take part whatever the expence or results was our only purpose.

Or was it just the lust for entertainment?

It doesn't matter.

I can only remember, that we had marvellous fun that week-end.

I was compelled to wear glasses for the first time during my rehabilitation at Grensas, when I started complaining about how difficult it was for me to read the cutline on TV.

Because of my former passion for volleyball I ran up against difficulties when I turned up for my first lesson in gymnastics in the College's new-built gymnasium without glasses, but only half a sight.

I didn't dare having my glasses on my nose, because I was afraid of damaging them in the heat of the moment when playing the game.

Because the boys and the girls played volleyball together it came as a shock to me, that I turned out to be a worse player, than anyone, of either sex.

I had been quite good a player before my accident, despite my low height, but now I'd turned out to be so clumsy and rigid, that it must have been very funny to look at.

I didn't notice the ball, until it was much too late and I was always bumping into the net, which is quite illegitimate, of course.

For that reason nobody wanted to have me on his team.

To top it all the gymnastic-teacher, who had taught me gymnastics at Laugarvatn, approached me and asked me whether I didn't want him to certify that I couldn't participate in gymnastics.

For the sake of my health!

But that offer only made me mad.

I sure wasn't the kind of man who gave in because everything didn't go the way I truly wanted and was feeling anguish because of my own inability.

So as to to top all the nonsence I decided to add to my hopeless sport-participation.

I discovered that I could play soccer an evening every week in the same gymnasium.

To the soccer-enthusiasts' disappointment I used my right to play inside-soccer in the evenings.

I remembered that I wasn't all that bad when playing this world's most popular sport.

I really had found it quite amusing and had played it quite a lot both inside and outside on Laugarvatn.

But again I was shocked with my own dissability which was quite offending!

My bad sight probably had much to do with it;

still I didn't have the guts to use my pressious glasses, but also because of my stiffness.

I always got deeply hurt, when the teams' leaders were selecting players out of the group of selectees, because at the end of all selections I was left standing all alone like some fifth wheel that nobody had any need for.

And through the first two winters the final line was:

-Well you can have Oli!, before the kicking could begin.

But it wouldn't have been right for me to hate the boys for their treatment, because it is just a "natural" way to treat "different people" in our society.

I myself probably wouldn't have been much nicer if I'd been in their shoes.

I just had to live with it, because noone was forcing me to take part and subsequently my team would get beaten in all games, for the reason that there were only four players in each.

Therefore each players' ability had more importance.

In my third year I'd made so much progress playing the game, as sightless as I was, that the leaders had started electing me for their team and I wasn't any longer the fifth wheel.

When I was a teacher at Höfn, a small village in the south-east of the country there wasn't any gymnasium there at that time, but I discovered to my delight that once a week the teachers amongst other villagers were allowed to use a tiny gymnasium which was located inside the fence of the American spy-station at Stokksnes which is quite close to the village.

I asked if I could take part and of course I got a positive answer.

When I worked as a teacher in my hometown in Keflavik I started to attend the special volleyball lessons that the teachers had in the tiny gymnasium by the elementary-school.

Quite a number of participants attended each lesson, there were teachers from Myllubakkaskoli (the Elementary school), Holtaskoli (high school) and Fjolbraut (Junior College), and also a few others that were there by tradition.

During the games I didn't kick the habit of making all kinds of appalling mistakes, just a repetition of what I'd been doing back in the Teachers' College and most didn't have any humour for it.

Therefore it wasn't really like a thunder from clear skies, when some of my "camrades" approached me one Tuesday, when I attended as usual a few minutes before seven, and informed me:

-Oli! The boys had a meeting where they decided that your presence wasn't wished for anymore.

-Don't you want me to attend anymore? I asked really offended.

-No, Oli dear. There are too many participants in the short time we have. (You're just not good enough a player they wished they'd said but didn't).

-But...What about all those who aren't teachers?

-They have attended for such a long time that they've become tradition!

And that's how my participation in group-sports came to an end to my real grief, but I just didn't want to cry it out, nor did I want to surrender.

I realized that movement was essential for my body, so that it wouldn't fall into decay.

Therefore I went to the only bicycle-store in town and bought me a used three gear bicycle for nine thousand kroners and started biking again.

This bicycle turned out to be a real lucky-catch and on it I've travelled all around the district of Sudurnes;

around Keflavik and Njardvik, and to the villages of Gardur, Sandgerdi, Hafnir and Vogar that all are in a ten kilometer radius from my hometown.