We had a particularly harsh winter that year with constant snow. While normally I would have been upset about such weather, however, that year it had a pleasant side effect. As a result of our fields constantly being covered in snow, there were no basketball or volleyball matches, hence their fields remained empty. After taking down the volleyball net, we utilized the two adjacent fields and created one huge soccer field. It was a bit lopsided as the basketball pole made one goal post and thus the field was shifted to that side but it did not matter to us. With a huge field at our disposal and cushioned by snow, we were free to practice crosses, bicycle kicks, tackles and any other high-risk acrobatic moves.

Playing in such conditions gave me a lot of exposure and I received feedback from many of my peers often comparing me to current players. Many of them said my style resembled that of Spain’s Emilio ‘the vulture’ Butragueno where I would always be ready to pounce on any loose balls in front of goal and put them in the back of the net. Rad disagreed with that assessment. “You run a lot, you’re nonstop chasing the ball. In fact to the point where opposing players playing monkey in the middle with you get tired of it before you do. You remind me of Pierre Littbarski.

In many of such games I was teamed up with Hossein Ahmadi.  Ever since our game against him, in spite of our huge loss, he had been spending time with me on the field. Considering the winter field was at our disposal, his affinity for long crosses, and my attempts of connecting with any aerial ball via my head, we made a good combination together when on the same team.

During one game as I lurked close to the opposing goal, Hossein made a series of dribbles on the opposite side of the field. Not wanting to draw attention to myself with my voice, I simply stuck my hand up trying to get his attention and he finally noticed. He launched a cross towards the goal that immediately prompted a dismissive hand gesture from me. We both could see that he had overhit the ball and it would be sailing well over my head. Once we got beyond the few seconds of disagreeing via sign language, it occurred to me that I might as well attempt to reach the ball. With my eyes firmly on the ball, I backpedaled to the far post. Picking the right moment, I finally leapt as high up as I could. I still was pretty sure I would not be able to connect, however, at the very least I could show that I put in the required effort. Contrary to my thoughts though I did in fact manage to head the ball and redirect it towards goal. The goalkeeper, Nikoosokhan, tried to save it but it sailed past him. He claimed it was too high and should not count (which I somewhat agreed with even though I kept silent). Our team insisted it was low enough and he had not jumped for it as he reacted late to the header. In the end we were awarded the goal.

On another day with a fresh, thick coat of snow covering the grounds, we geared up for another match during gym. Unfortunately the snow was too deep to make play feasible. Nikoosokhan best described it when he pointed out to us, “The snow is too snowy.” Each step would plunge our feet in the snow with the ball facing a similar fate and us struggling to take the next step. Realizing we needed to groom the snow into a flat and even surface, we began intentionally playing the ball onto every corner of the field, hoping that before long our optimal surface would emerge. For most of us much of the focus of the game became stomping the snow down although I remained one of the few whom was still taking the game seriously. I had continued counting my goal tally throughout the year and as the year began coming to a close I had been inching towards 100. With 90 something goals thus far I took advantage of the lax attitudes to score as many goals as I possibly could. While I repeatedly executed scissor kicks that day, even scoring off of a few of them, I managed to reach and surpass 100 goals by scoring more than 15 goals during that gym period. For our lunch break, which immediately followed our gym period, the field was in perfect condition.

These games continued until the weather began warming up and thus melting the snow. During the last game that we played on the double field, a goalkeeper made a routine dive to parry the ball away and subsequently found himself lying in a puddle of water.

I finished the year with more than 120 goals.