Becoming A Starter In College

Although I never saw myself being one of those girls that are head over heels for a sport, I fell in love with soccer my sophomore year. Since I started soccer so late into my school career it gave me a reason to try my hardest at practices and during games. I wanted to become as good as the girls that have played their whole life. Soccer soon became a big part of my high school career, and because of this I spent hours after school either out on the field or running the

At the age of ten I was the most energetic, go-lucky, confident girl. I excelled at my beloved sport, soccer. I had been playing since I was just a mere five years old, far longer than the other girls. Playing so long had helped me be at a higher level of skill than most of the other players on my team.

The next big milestone in soccer for me was when I was a freshman in high school. I went to Troy High and didn 't think I was good enough to play high school soccer. If it wasn’t for my best friend’s dad, I really wouldn 't have played. He told me that I would regret not playing and that I had a lot of potential. I decided to try out with my three best friends and we all ran and did exhausting fitness exercises for weeks during tryouts. First, we’d have to do five laps around the track. In the beginning of the season, those five laps are a killer. By the end of the second one, I am usually out of breath. After that, we’d get into groups and do stations, like jumping over bars or doing sit-ups and push-ups, basically anything to get us into shape. The third part of practice was sprinting. I like sprints because I am way better at running faster for one-hundred yards, than doing a long distance run. The next part of tryouts were the best, all the girls would get put into two teams and we’d just scrimmage so he could see our real soccer skills. Coach Haviland, who was the varsity coach, decided teams after the tough two weeks. He said I had a little maturing to do on the field and that I will be on varsity in no time. I was shocked! I didn 't even think he was considering me. I had a lot of fun with the Junior Varsity team and made lots of friends. By

There I was, sitting in my dad’s sleek green Mazda heading to my very first soccer game. Four years old, prepared yet anxious, I couldn’t believe this was going to happen after two weeks of practice, meeting my teammates, and having fun. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the other team. I was somewhat afraid that they’d be too big for me to compete with. I thought that it was somewhat funny that I had chosen to be a defender even though I was one of the smallest of my team. There was no time for those thoughts now, it was a nice sunny day and I was ready to prove that I was an important piece to the team and that I was definitely needed.

When I start getting into soccer it was when my niece tried out and made the Mt. Bridges Delko team. She loves the game and it is very anticipating watching her play. Each year she got better faster and stronger.

Soccer is my favorite sport, no I don’t watch it on tv, nor do I have a favorite soccer team. So, it all started when I was eight years old I believe I told my mom that I didn’t want to do a certain thing anymore and that I wanted to play a sport a.k.a soccer. She of course told me sure. So she signed me up for soccer a couple of days later. I was so happy I was jumping up and down with excitement. Little did I know that I would love the sport. So, the day of the first soccer practice I was nervous I never done anything with the team and I had these questions running in my head like what if no one likes you here? Or what if you like the sport? Or what if you aren’t even good enough ? but I let these questions slide and I had learned how to play the sport. In that amount of time I thought no more like Challenged myself and said “ Cassie you can do this you are going to be apart of this team and you are going to be the best.” From then on I challenged myself, I practiced almost all the

“When your legs can’t run anymore, run with your heart.” Spring is the best time of the year, because it is soccer season. Spring of 2016 was a special time to me, because I was a freshman at Wahlert Catholic High School trying out for the women’s soccer team. I went into the first open gym scared, nervous and excited all at the same. The open gyms were for use to get in shape for the actual season and for the coaches to get a better look at our soccer skills. Previously in the year of 2014 I played for a club soccer team called DSC or Dubuque Soccer Club. After that 2014 season was over I decided to quite DSC and try something different. So going into open gyms I knew that I was going to be a just a bit rusty because I haven’t played soccer in a while. As open gyms went on some upperclassman were telling me that the coach was very impressed by the skills I had. Being only a freshman it was very flattering to know that the coach thought that about me. Knowing this it drove me to keep pushing myself hard and hard, because my goal was to make it on varsity.

Becoming a starter in the eighth grade was not an easy task, but it has been memorable over my high school years. It was such a high accomplishment for me, and I will always remember how I made that happen. Working hard during practice and taking full advantage of an unexpected opportunity allowed me to become a starter in a varsity softball game as an eighth grader.

At age 9, my mom registered me in a local soccer academy where young kids were trained and nurtured in the sport. I was really excited because I believed it was the start of an illustrious soccer career. Playing as a center forward, I enjoyed each and every minute on the pitch and also the atmosphere. My family would always come to watch me play and cheer for me. That buoyed me and gave me a lot of confidence as I kept thinking that one day, they would have to sit on the couch in front of the television watching me playing professional soccer. At age 12, I was privileged to meet one of the Nigerian national soccer team player Kanu Nwankwo. He was known worldwide and most of his teammates saw him as a role model. On the day he visited our academy, he talked to us on many issues mostly on being focused and working towards making our dreams become reality. He also talked about a heart foundation program he was running and how it is helping

The sport of soccer was what motivated me to do better in everything I did. I had played every position on the field except for one up until high school when everything changed; our keeper had quit and the only person we had left was incredibly untalented. My coach at the time asked if any one was willing to step up to fill the position. It was a cloudy and

Despite having quit playing soccer on leagues due to school, I decided to try-out for the soccer team at school in 7th grade.

It all began back when I was three years old at my first season of recreational soccer. The YMCA was where the love and passion for soccer started. I later moved to the big leagues of Big Sun recreational soccer to me it was like the professional league. I met the best coach ever, Coach Judd Davis. He inspired me to be the bomb.com player and introduced me to competitive soccer. So that next year I played on a U12 team as a fourth grader. When I made this team it was at that moment my dream to play professionally was born. I worked harder than anyone on my team and tried to soak up as much knowledge about the game there was told to me. My parents helped me along the way by continuously encouraging me throughout difficult times. So I thought I was ready to take on harder challenges.

When I was 12 and I realize that soccer can be something for me, nothing stop me. I started to traing three, four hours at day every single day; Because of that, opportunities sarting to appear. I earn my place in the first team of my club, They started to send me to new tournaments with the first team, and the soccer became a reality for me, finally the soccer starte give me some of the thing for I was fighting for. I keep trainging during all my High School, for my goal to be professional.

Most of the people I have encountered within my life would cease to engage playing soccer due to the lack of significant playing time on the field. On the other hand, I used this experience as motivation to work diligently at my craft. With the help of my father, I composed a plan that consisted of leg-strengthening drills, fatiguing long-distance runs, and medicine ball exercises. I anticipated that these workouts would improve my performance on the soccer field. This hard work and determination had to be paired with exceptional effort to resolve my conflict. After listening to my father’s speech about playing like a taller person with superior work rate, I conveyed that effort into my next game. I was astonished! I had received the most playing time out of most to all of my teammates. What I was most relieved of was that I was contributing and not feeling like the oddball because all of my other peers had the chance to provide for the team.

Ever since I was a young girl, I have been fascinated with the sport soccer. However, I truly became passionate about it when I played my freshman through senior years in high school. We would practice on the field for an hour every weekday and if it was too cold outside, we would practice in the school gymnasium. During this hour, my team and I would stretch, run, scrimmage against each other, and sometimes do strength training. I became involved in this sport when I was eight years old because I thought that it looked fun and I had many friends that played. My parents fully supported me and my dad especially was so excited to be a mentor and help me learn to become a better athlete. I really enjoyed this sport because it taught me so much