How Football Changed My Life

The famous Scottish soccer player Bill Shankly once said, "Soccer is a matter of life and death, except more important."

Growing up in a house with all boys in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, I was taught to be tough and injuries were very common but easily shaken off. When it came to sports, I would put all my time and effort into one thing: soccer. Soccer was always a true passion of mine; as a matter of fact, it was more of a lifestyle than just a sport. I would spend weekends traveling around my local area playing the game I loved with people I enjoyed being with. My teammates became like my second family after countless seasons and we did almost everything together off the soccer field. The idea of putting on my jersey and lacing up my cleats was a moment I would not trade for the world and something I would never take for granted.

There comes a time when you have to grow up or are forced to. You learn from past experiences and base your recent scenarios from it. Since the age of five, soccer has been part of my life. From having practice twice a week, to having practice every day of the week not including games. I felt like soccer was my pathway to success. I felt like I could do big things from it and I had all the confidence in the world but never would show it when others asked me if I was good. I’m the shy quiet girl that shows you what I’m capable of without saying a single word.

From the age of three, my life was nothing but Hockey. With a father who was a hockey player and a brother 3 years older already playing hockey, it was clear which sport I was going to get into. Once I started walking, my parents put me on the ice to learn the game of hockey. I instantly fell in love and I have continued playing to this day. Once it came time to play high school hockey, it all got serious. I was a freshman on the varsity team with my brother, who was a senior at the time. This was nothing but an emotional year for me, it was my first year in high school and my last year to play on a team with my brother. Once my brother graduated, he decided to go onto Juniors hockey, which is what I would do once I graduated. By the time I graduated high school, my brother would exceed the age limit for juniors hockey, so

Lush, green grass began to massage my bare feet. Sunshine beamed off the clean, white goal posts. With my cleats in my hands, ball in my bag, and my freshly washed shirt, only one thing came to mind: soccer. The sport I love and have devoted the past three years was evolving. Many of my friends were shifting from recreational to club soccer. After three years of recreational soccer, I decided to take my game to the next level and tryout for club soccer. Eager to showcase my skills, I stood on the field bearing confidence. Before tryouts began, my thoughts solely consisted of playing club soccer with my friends. I thought little about tryout preparation, because I didn’t know what to expect. No one gave me information about how to perform well

There has been many important events that have occurred since I have been born but there is one in particular that has sparked a light in me that has changed the way i have looked at things. It happened when I was playing with the Sacramento FC and everything was going well until the middle of the season. When we got to the middle of the season things started to look shady. I wasn't getting playing time and that really opened my eyes to reality. Soccer was not the only thing that I needed to do in order to have a good life. I needed to start focusing on my dreams and different routes to success other then just soccer. It really showed what I need to do in order to survive in the real world. If it was not for my family's support through this

Athletics had not always been a flauntable aspect of my life as they are now. In grades 1-4, I was uncoordinated and far too lanky to produce and store any muscle. I often ponder about what changed in the fifth grade, for I became very agile and have exercised almost every day since the beginning of that year. I did not pick up the sport of swimming until the seventh grade and I cannot imagine myself not swimming, not only as a source of exercise but as a source of pure pleasure.

I was constantly looked down on, as through the practices, varsity players continuously knock me down and run me over. One varsity player named Jordan Zorbas hit me so hard I felt like a crash test dummy. Later in practices, the varsity roster was taped to the locker-room’s wall. I couldn’t place my name on the list, meaning that I was on the freshman team. I remember thinking,“ Why couldn’t I make it, “ but deep down I knew why. I began practicing with the freshman team at linebacker. September 7th we had our first game against Ida Baker high school. I remember making the first tackle of the game, with me wrapping the running back and stripping the ball from his meaty hands. Although I started the whole game, I was not satisfied with my performance and felt that I should’ve done

I started on the high school football team and didn’t do too bad. I ended up getting all district defensive back which was good to have. I also started on the high school basketball team. This was a pretty good year we didn’t do to bad but got beat out in regionals. It was one of the most painful times of my life because it meant a lot to me and the team. I couldn’t believe it happened. We worked so hard. A good thing about it is that I improved and did better that year. I also tried a crazy thing which was to play baseball. I have never played baseball in my life nor did I like it. I went ahead and tried it out anyways. I enjoyed it but I was not good at it. I couldn’t seem to find the ball in the outfield. I was a decent pitcher and batter though. The best part about baseball was the bus ride I enjoyed them a

I recall arriving at the first game. The opposing team, although small, were almost two times my size. They looked intimidating, but I did not let judgement cloud my mind. When huddled together, our coach spoke to us, telling the team that we is what we practiced for, that the other team did not practice as hard as we did, even though he had no knowledge of the opposing team’s practice was. As he continued to intensify our spirits, a fire sparked amongst my companions. The plays flourished throughout my brain. I felt confident. Before I knew it, a whistle blew and I was fast forwarded onto the field

I have always loved sports, but in September 2015 a certain sport changed my life. At the start of grade eight I joined the Airdrie Aces Athletic Club. I am now a better person because of this change that I made in my life. Before I started running track, I played soccer. While playing soccer I did not realize all the opportunities available to me through sports.

I was an incoming freshman, two weeks prior to my first day of high school, and I was terrified. I knew that I loved the sport of football, however I had heard stories from my brother about how tough Stepinac’s freshman football coach was. Everything that I was told was true. One of the coaches great lessons that he taught me was that a hardworking disciplined team is typically more successful than a team that has all of the talent in the world, but is not disciplined and does not work hard. That summer was the hardest that I had ever worked up to that point to start in a football game. The hard work never paid off, and I left at the end of that season defeated. I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t fast enough, and I wasn’t strong enough. I had only played in two of the games, one, for a snap when

Thursday came and it was time to go I tried to get out of it, but I was eventually forced. We got there and the coaches had to give me all of my gear to play. All of us got on the field and our practice began. Once it finished and we got home my mom asked me if I liked it. I immediately replied with NO! The deal was if I did not like it I could quit , but instead she said give it a week and see.She bribed me by saying I could move my room upstairs,

Sara Maratta and Felisa Rogers essay is the opposite of one another. Sara Maratta at the age of 14 developed a liking to sports, hockey was Marattas number one sport. Maratta knew hockey inside and out. Her favorite aspect of the sport was the fighting part. It drew her deeper into the sport. Maratta had a passion for the Blue Jackets team, and being her number one hobby whom she supported as a fan. Although women want to be heard in the sports world and want to participate in the games, it is still a man dominated sport. Men feel that the sports world is not for women.

As the second week began with a bang at that monday evening practice we had our first scrimmage against the eighth grade team,they had been unbeaten the year before but the fact of the matter is the had guys that were like 6”1 or taller and our tallest guy was 5”9.He was on the B team!So you could imagine what happened even though the coaches weren’t keeping track our bench warmers were and it was bad.The score was 42-7 by the end of practice.Next few practices were like intese conditioning but I