Personal Narrative: How Football Changed My Life

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.

Playing football was probably one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had in my lifetime. It taught me a lot of things and I learned a lot of lessons. In this writing you will learn what I went through when I was on the football team.

Growing up all I ever wanted to be was a professional football player, my dream was to make it into the NFL and repay my parents for all they've done for me. My whole life I was told to find something I love to do and stick with it, that's when I knew that football could be my free ticket out of Hawai’i. As my knowledge grew, I started to realize the struggles college would put my parents through financially, and that's when I decided football was the way to take care of that all. But as a kid, you don't see the full picture and you honestly never will, but all I knew was that I hated school and loved to play sports. Growing up I've always had people tell me to take care of my school work and be a student first. As a kid, you understand what

My life revolves around 3 important things that keep me going everyday, family, soccer, and fashion . My family is very important to me because I know that no matter what happens they will always have my back. My family follows loyalty because we feel as if nobody should be left behind. I remember the day I came home to my parents arguing which led to my mother packing all our stuff to get out the house as soon as possible which was all so scary and confusing to me. We then just drove around and parked in front of a church to see how the night would end. As I was growing up, I had to learn to mature quicker not because I wanted to but because I had to. I had to leave me childhood fun to help my mother and siblings find brighter days. The day I remember I had to be the man of the house because someone who had that job before me couldn't handle it. I learned to not rely on everyone all the time because when you need them the most they won't be there. My parents divorced at a young age right before my little sister was born which all happened so quick for me however since that day I will never forget because it changed my life in a blink of an eye. Within time I learned it was for the best and it only made me wiser because I knew the mistakes and I

I have known it for fifteen years. For fifteen years I have lived, breathed, and marveled at it. I am only eighteen years old meaning it has taken up almost all of my life. I know nothing else but this, and it is soccer. Soccer has been my lifestyle ever since I was able to walk and it has been what keeps me going and keeps me motivated in life. Soccer has made me who I am today and has taught me almost everything I have ever needed to know.

I grew up with a love towards sports. Sure I started off in ballet and gymnastics but one day my best friend told me I should play soccer with her. So of course I begged my mom to let me do another sport. Little did I know soccer would have such a big impact on my life. I started off with playing recreational league soccer. My first coach, was my softball coach, and he decided I would be a perfect forward. As the years went on and I got a different coach my position changed. I went from a forward to a midfielder then finally a defender.

Ever since I was little, I have always appreciated what I had in my life. When I was four years old, my dad passed away. I only have little, short memories, but I can still remember him. It’s like I’m missing half of the pieces to a puzzle. Losing him has made me realize how fortunate I am to have a family. Every day, I work as hard as I can and try to be the best person I can be, to make him proud.

It was the beginning of my tenth grade year and school had just started. Football started and the team started off undefeated. Week five we lost in a triple overtime game, we lost 19-20. It was a tough to accept the loss after watching how much effort my own teammates put into one game. We were going into the sixth week of our season, we were getting ready to play Portsmouth East and we were preparing ourselves to play against the rest of the teams in our division.

It was early June. My eight grade year came to an end and I had one thing on my mind, even though I was just a freshman, and that was varsity football. Our middle school team had been the most successful team that our school had ever had and we hoped to

If you can dream it, you can achieve it. – Zig Ziglar. Since I in was junior high, I’ve always dreamed of playing sports. I have watched a great deal of games. I watched and observed every level of sports, from high school to the NFL. My favorite of these was college. I watched and watched until I finally met my favorite player, Tyrann Mathieu.

thinking differently about football. I tried out for the team my freshman year, and to say the least,

The changes I am going to do this year is keep grinding, no matter what and put in work this year. A change I really wanna do is not talk so much and get away from friends that are not doing good things and stick with friends that are in the same path as me. Another change is paying, more attention in class and when I need help go after school and get it. The one I really want to change is not to be so mean to people and just be helpful to other. Not to get mad, I so easy. I have to control my anger. The other new change is not to be so lazy and start doing what i gotta do and stop overthinking stuff. I also want to the way I play football because I want to play better and just be the best player out there. How am I going to do this, i’m going

I would definitely not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for football, and that is because of the coaching staff. Those coaches saw something in me that I did not see for myself. I will never forget when he walked over and told me the news. Never before had I thought that that would happen to a little boy who spent the first years of his life playing soccer because it was the easiest thing to do. I know now to never underestimate your own potential, and keep working. Who knows, you might just surprise

However, to enhance and develop the gift of being a good athlete and/or football player comes hard work, dedication, endurance, cooperation and love.

As the season went on, I had worked on my skills and had begun to have personal success in games. As soon as I know it, I ended up being brought up to varsity to add depth since many of our starters had gotten hurt. Even though I did not get much playing time on varsity, I was still very glad to make the team. I knew that hard work really does pay off.