Personal Narrative: A Career In Football

In his autobiography Life Lessons from Little League, Vincent Fortanasce says “Winning is never final, and losing is never fatal.” At the end of a game, one team will win and the other will lose. Failure to accept this concept has become detrimental to American youth sports organizations. Our society has become infatuated with winning, and all of the additional perks associated with it. What is considered the “best” for children as young as five years old has grown to an unrealistic extent. Parents want their children to be in a reputable organization, young athletes want to play with highly skilled teammates, and coaches want to recruit talented players all in hopes of being the absolute “best”. The amount of young athletes, ranging from five to fourteen years old, participating in local sports organizations has declined within the last two decades due to the highly competitive and unhealthy environments they are being exposed to.Taking pride in your local community has decreased form an athletic point of view. Representing the place I grew up in was a motivating factor when I put my uniform on for every single softball game I played in high school. I had the privilege to play on the field next to girls I had grown to love the sport with ever since our tee ball days. Today, young athletes are branching out from their homegrown roots to play for club teams who recruit players from a larger region. The popularity of traveling teams has substantially diluted the

Ever since I could remember, soccer had been in my life. If there was a soccer team that needed a coach, my father was always the first to volunteer. There were almost too many strenuous weekends spent hours away from home for soccer tournaments to count. My entire family, consisting of my parents, my siblings, my dog, and myself, packed in a mini-van heading to a city that I had never heard of for soccer games. But when I entered high school, all that would soon go away. I kept playing the same sport that I always had, although now I had to wake up at five in the morning for six hours of high school soccer practice in the smoldering summer heat in order to make the high school team. High School sports were more competitive than anything I had done before. I put in as much effort as I could to make the Varsity High School team, staying out past dinner to practice even longer. I was utterly divulged in soccer and trying to be the best I could be. Soon, I would regret placing a game over spending time with my family.

In my opinion it is the best sport that I have ever came in contact with. Between Baseball, Basketball, Tennis and Track I believe that Football is the greatest sport ever created. It is my favorite thing in popular culture right now. The game of Football also allowed me to build character and grow as a person, and it taught me how to preserver through adversity. This game has enhanced my perception about commitment and sacrifice. This sport is the reason that I am able to attend the Howard University. This game is also a good stress reliever; I mean who wouldn’t want to hit someone legally without getting in trouble.

Soccer has always been a sport that I’ve loved throughout my childhood. I’ve watched superstars like Sami Aljaber and Yousf Althunyan put on epic performances through the expression of soccer. However, I never truly understood what soccer could do for me until I signed up for my first soccer team. It was in high school, and I was only sixteen years old at the time. I was very excited to have my own team, and to have my statistics being recorded throughout the season. I definitely wanted to test my skills on the soccer field against true competitors that wanted to win just as badly as I did. There were local schools that we had to compete against, and then if we made it far enough, we would get to compete at the state and national levels. When I signed up for my high school soccer team, I truly didn’t know what to expect. I expected to have some fun with my new teammates and friends, but I didn’t realize that it would teach me a valuable life lesson about hard work and discipline. This paper will explain the ups and downs that I’ve had throughout my high school soccer years, and how it helped me become a better person today by instilling positive traits such as hard work, determination, and discipline.

It gave me friends for life, unforgettable memories, and much more. I play a lot of soccer outside of school for different teams, but the feeling of playing for the school gave me a different feeling especially toward the end of my 12th grade year. I was the Captain of the team for 2 years. The players looked up to me when they were down, had problems, or lacked confidence. It felt special that I could impact a person that much just in a few words, “Rodrigo, you are much better than how you are playing” or “Aaron you’re one of the best keepers I have ever seen.” Simple stuff like that would make a difference in their playing. I could go on and on about it. One of the most important lessons I got from playing here is that, one can’t do everything themselves at one point they’ll need help. This is from the fact I would try to do things myself sometimes, and when my teammates would help me it would go much smoother. This will benefit me later in life because the “Do it myself” mentality I had out on the field I had off it as well. I have always been like that. However, after my last season I know the power of doing work together. I will always reach out for help when I can in order to get things

On February 28, 2005, I experienced one of the most exciting events that anyone could ever experience – winning a State Championship. The day my soccer team made history is a day I’ll never forget. However it is not just that day we won the title, but the whole experience of the preceding season that got us there. From start to finish, my team’s 2004-2005 season taught me that the platitude is true. You can do anything you set your mind to.

As a child, I grew up playing softball and that 's it. My mom played softball, my cousins played softball. It’s just all I knew. When I reached the seventh grade at Gardner Dickinson (my elementary and middle school), my friends all played soccer and I reluctantly joined as well. Each year I had my ups and downs with soccer, but it grew to be a part of who I am and has taught me a lot of things. For example, to try new things, to work hard, to never give up, and to step up and be a leader.

Approximately four years ago, twelve of us accepted a position on team that none of us, not only knew anything about, but also did not expect much from. We were twelve individuals that were seeking a college soccer experience at the division I level and if you ask any of those girls back then, none of them could have predicted the reality of the four years that we would ultimately spend here. This team had experienced heartbreak in freshman year on many levels, battled through the pain of losing in the semi-finals of sophomore year, and again losing in the finals last year. To be a part of this program is unlike any experience I’ve had before. There is always a supportive and positive environment; there is always progress being made every

It was just another school night in the seventh grade. Our recreational tackle football team had a practice at 730pm until 9. It was a very swampy night and from that I felt myself very sluggish. At the time, I was a backup running back. I was always left on the sidelines facing the chills of the cold wind during games. I typically didn’t get to see much playing time on the field, but that night I got my opportunity. I was receiving kicks during a punting audition and all I was doing was catching the ball and throwing it back, nothing unique. One throw after another, my coach began to praise my arm strength. Seeing me pass the ball was a true eye-opener. That night, I went from a backup running back, to the starting quarterback of my rec

I never expected my life to turn out this way!! 2020 Darren Clayton enters the NFL draft to contend against top players most teams wanted. I was surprised that I had made it that far.Now imam take you back to my childhood. I was only 10 years old in 2010 I wasn’t really a football lover, I was mostly a basketball fan. I mainly played basketball and watched it more than football. I never played football in my life the only sports I played was basketball and baseball but I never pursued it to the fullest it was just something I would do in the mean time to kill sometime in elementary school and middle school. In middle school I got curious about football so I joined the flag football team and played at an tournament against other people. At the tournament we played three teams, we only won

Saturday morning, and sweat is running down my face. Dirt is covering every inch of my body. Breathing hard I hear the coach scream “GO!”. Already tired I force my beaten body to run as fast as I could. I see my opponent come into my view, and I know what I have to do. Speeding my way towards the ball I tackle the kid in front of me. In the distance I hear satisfaction from my coach. “Nice tackle Dylan, you get better everytime I watch you.” applauds my coach. I thank him for noticing that I have been working hard throughout these two a day practices. Sprinting my way towards the  next drill I run my coach's words through my head which helps boost my confidence for what is to come next. I was halfway through the week filled with these gruesome two a days, but I knew from my improvement each day I would make it.

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.

My whole body is completely numb as I set my feet in the torn up, muddy battlefield known as the gridiron. I glance up to the scoreboard we’re up by 3 with 30 seconds to go. My chest is pounding through my shoulder pads and a tingling sensation runs through my arms. “It’s fourth and goal, if they hold them here they’ll win the game!” comes over the loud speaker as I hear hundreds of screaming fans cheer. I can barely see from the sweat dripping down my eyes as I look over to the sideline to get the play call. Coach calls 43 Mike Will Cover 2. This is it. This is what I have worked for. My hands are shaking with anticipation as the quarterback starts his cadence. “Down!” I scan the lineman. “Set!” I know this play it is coming right for me.

The city of Everett is home to Casino Road an infamous street with a growing crime issue facing their youth. An abundance of their youth live below the federal poverty line, lack a structured support system, and are destined to repeat the cycle they live in. This issue led to the creation of the Casino Road Futbol Academy. An annual one-week camp that focuses on teaching children the fundamentals of soccer as well as a brief distraction from the life they live. Throughout the years, I've participated in various activities but none have had the same positive impact on me than coaching for the Casino Road Futbol Academy.

The 2016-2017 JV and Varsity PRHS Girls Soccer Team is composed of 31 young student-athletes that tried out for the teams, endured a disorganized and unfair elimination/selection process, only to find out that was just the beginning of that was to be what some players describe as a "miserable" season. Although most players maintain their commitment and focus, attended their practices, and showed up to their games determined to play their best, their head coach did NOT. The answers to the questions in this survey, describe an egotistical head coach who is lazy, immature, and bickers with his players. Such leadership is not based on respect and mutual trust, unfortunately, it led to moments of chaos, and discontent within the team, in which poor