It is hard for a teenager to find life always interesting.  That was just the case with elf Joshua. Most of his time was spent in Santa’s workshop for Sports and Games.  The work was interesting.  But, Joshua’s mind twirled around  different sports, especially soccer.  He could see himself kicking, feinting, passing, heading etc.  But he lacked the opportunities for practicing the games taking place  in his mind.

One day, Joshua was passing by the reindeer corral.  Suddenly a unique thought occurred among the whirlwinds of his mind.  The idea that flashed was to organize a game between reindeer and elves.

Joshua was not late in realizing the logistical problems involved in a game between two unequal teams: two-legged against four-legged. They were unequal in weight and one team had the added appendage of obstructive antlers.

First of all, to avoid body collisions, Joshua decided to divide the field into two equal parts – Right and Left.  He simply drew a line in the middle.  Each team positioned on one side.  Joshua also reduced the field into half length.  This reduced the distance from kick to the goal.  He minimized the team size to five.   Now the game became more manageable.

The elves were led by Joshua who was a winger.  The Goalie or goalkeeper was a much taller Luca.  His reach was longer than that of his team mates.  Front, midfielder and back were handled by Benjamin, Isaac and David.   

The reindeer were led by Goalie, Carlos.  The winger, front, midfielder  and back were played by Auguste, Jan, Ram and Jasper.

A week before Christmas was the agreed upon date for the game.  The time was 2 p.m.   Everyone was excited and spectators gathered by the field ahead of the game.   Jason was the Referee.  He took out the whistle hanging on the lariat around his neck and blew  three times.  Everyone walked towards the field and stationed themselves to each one’s comfort.  Some even sprawled around the snow-dusted grass.  The two teams marched in, the elves in green and red and reindeer in yellow.  Jason tossed the coin.  Joshua called ‘Heads’ and  Carlos called ‘Tails’.  Tails it was.

Jason let the ball into play.  Joshua caught the ball with his foot and maneuvered the ball for a huge kick to the reindeer goal post.  The ball sailed high and rushed forward.  Goalie Carlos was scrambling to follow the ball’s progress.   Luck favored him and the ball hit the top bar and stopped its progress.  Joshua was disappointed.   Carlos kicked the ball to Auguste who passed it to Jan.  Jan gave a mighty kick towards the elf goal posts. The ball sailed to the left corner.  But, Luca’s reach was long and he caught it.  There was an uproaring applause.  The  ball went back into play.    The game resumed till the teams played for an hour.  There was no goal from either side.  The limited field and the limited number of players were restraining.

The referee wanted some resolution.  He opted for a shootout.  He decided that three from each team would kick the ball towards the goal. The team with higher goals would win.  Both the reindeer and elves kicked to score goals.   Both goalies were excellent.   Until the last shooter, no goal was scored.   Finally, it was Joshua’s turn.  He took aim and kicked straight at the goalie.  Carlos was ready to move to the left or right.  He did not expect one coming straight at him.   “Goal”, everyone shouted and and the first ever Reindeer vs Elves came to a close. The elves carried  Joshua on their shoulders.

Santa Claus came to present medals to the winners and runners up. Joshua received a special medal for the only scorer.

The best of this unique game was the hilarity produced by the unmatched teams.  The reindeer had a hard time with the antlers because often the ball was caught in them when heading.  Four legs were not suited for soccer especially playing against a nimble two-legged elves team.  The number of tumbles and tangles were numerous to be recorded.  Often the impact of the reindeer kick on the smaller elves often gave a pause.  Frequently, the game appeared clownish.  Altogether, this history-creating game became a laughter-creating game.