Personal Narrative: My Love For Soccer

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.

Soccer is a game where nothing is predictable. Soccer is a game that’s been around since the eighteenth century and has a different effect on many athletes’ lives, including mine. My sophomore year of high school is over and I was finally over with a long season of high school soccer. Returning to my team of five years I was excited to go back and am comfortable with. Right as I approached my team I saw an unfamiliar face and instantly got intimidated. Trying my hardest to avoid him it seemed as if every time I looked over he was examining my every move. Of course that day of practice was a series of conditioning test to see if we were really doing our fitness assignments over the break. The drills consisted of a pattern of sprint got dragged out all along to eighty yard

Growing up I had focused on competitive soccer. Soccer challenged me both physically and mentally and I learned to love these demands on the field. These challenges helped me foster a self-confidence in myself when it came to athletics. When I fractured my tibia playing against my rival high school, sending my knee cap into my thigh, I was faced with a new test. The sport that I loved was taken away from me for an extended period of time and it took away part of my identity. Who was I without soccer?

From one week to another I started feeling so much pain in my back I honestly did not know what it was I tended not to pay attention to it that whole week. Until at the end of the week it got to a point where I couldn't move nor stretch that was when I realized my high school soccer career would end. I played soccer as a freshman and as a sophomore I always tried my best I was ready for soccer this time and I had just gotten back from a Europe trip which made me learn new things about soccer. My goal for high school was to be able to play all four years since I had already made the team freshman year.

I did a bunch of sports and I liked doing sports and going to practices but after doing things for 8 years it gets kinda boring and you lose interest in something you don’t love. I just liked sports and people said I was good at them but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had a bunch of coach’s ruin my liking of sports so let me tell you the full story.

When I was three years old, I began playing a sport that would change my life forever. Throughout my life I have tried just about every sport available to me. The one that stuck with me and that I continued to play every year was soccer. It was the love of my life. I loved everything about it from the sweet smell of the fresh cut grass to the most exhilarating feeling of scoring a goal.

As I stepped on to the freshly mowed grass that still had a hint of brown in it, I could feel the heat of the sun beginning to warm my skin, causing a sweat to form. The field was beautiful. I had never seen something so large before my eyes. My life was about to change as I stepped into the circle where all the kids were gathering.

Nine years ago I watched my very first football game, and I was fascinated by the quote from Vince Lombardi, “Football is like life, it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.”So the succeeding year, I requested if I could do football and my grandpa said to me “Son if you want to play football, play on the line, and play on defense it is going to take dedication and determination, and you have to practice every day, do calisthenics every day, and most of all learn about how to play on the line of scrimmage.”

My parents and I would always be at the park every weekend for my soccer games. Soccer is my passion and having the support from my parents every single time is the best feeling anyone can have. There has been times that I wanted to give up on what i love to do most which is soccer but my family has been there to motivate me .

The Ohio travel cup our soccer team is 2-0 in it. We beat Lagrange 3-1 and Twinsburg 3-2. We were about to play the hardest game of our lives. Belpre from south east ohio they haven’t let up a goal yet and are 2-0 like us. All we needed was one win and we are in the finals.They had the best offence and defence and can pass around any team like there's no tomorrow. We walk up to the field feeling different. We knew we were going to need to adapt to their play style. The game started the players just out worked our team. They were faster and stronger. They go around us like we were a leaf against the wind we had no chance. They scored again and again. It was now 4-0, 1 min left in the first half we couldn’t do anything against this first-class

Tireless training . Driven hours . Non- stop. This was my way of life during the summer

My team has been working really hard in order to get to the finals for the soccer league.We trained,played cooperatively, and tried our best.This game meant everything to me and my team.It decided the victor for the soccer league.If we didn’t win the match it would feel like all this training was a waste of time.

When looking back at the game’s conditions, it was just an unusually hot, sunny October morning, but during the game, it felt like the heat had taken away all of my energy. This soccer game was an important one for my soccer team as we played one of the toughest teams in our competitive league, although no one on our team knew that before the game. This was because of the first time we played them it was the easiest game we had so far in the league so far because of superior skills and tactics. So, our team walked so confidently around the field that it looked like we had already won the game before it even started. Even though we knew that they had more bigger, athletic players on their team and weather conditions were hotter than the first

The soccer ball rolled towards me and before kicking it in half a second, I felt the warm sunset kiss my wet, dirty face. I kick the ball as hard as I could with all of my strength making the ball curve into the goalie’s position. GOAL! I scored my first ever point out of all the games I have played with my team. As I was cheering with my teammates, I look back to see my family. They were all sitting there watching happily and shouting my name with praise. I jogged back to my position. I remember when my mom, my coach, and I went to the soccer shop to buy my own equipment for soccer. As I saw all these amazing things in awe, my mom and my coach already have bought me the things that I needed to play. I didn’t notice it until they brought me home with a surprise of a bag full of equipment.