Personal Narrative: Region 5 Joy Kohlman Cup Tryout Room

I have never felt more nervous than in the locker room before my region game in Pierre to advance to the state tournament. My teammates and I were gathered in the locker room before the game like we usually are, but this was different. The feeling of knowing that this was our last chance of going to the state tournament and playing for a championship was on the line. I remember it was so quite. I had headphones on, and so many thoughts were traveling my mind. The music blasting in my ears was a blur and all I could hear was my own heart beating. Coach Gardner entered the room and had the coaching staff with him preparing to give his pregame speech. After he relieved some of our stress and nerves, we were ready. We broke down the huddle and jogged down the dark hall to the court. I will never forget walking onto the court hearing the screeching cheers and seeing the sea of purple on one side of the court and red on the other.

Miracle, released in 2004, based on the 1980 USA hockey team. This movie is filled with many sports psychology themes; commitment, motivation, confidence, teamwork , injury, goal setting and mental toughness. Miracle is a true story based on the event of the “miracle” season of the 1980 US Olympic team had. Herb Brooks had the dream of coaching the U.S. Olympic team ever since he was cut from the 1960 U.S. Olympic team. Brooks' dream comes true, and he gets the coaching job in 1979.

I felt my heart racing as I imagined making the top team in the club. I knew right then and there that I was going to try out for the team as soon as I discussed it with my parents. After my parents’ approval, I went to the first tryout with high expectations and aspirations. The tryout was going well at first; my skill was evident on the ice. I was making quick passes and skating hard. I will never forget the fateful pass that happened next. I remember the play in slow motion. I passed the puck through the center ice, a precarious move, but it was intercepted by the opposing team and as a result they scored a swift goal. Groans from the other players could be heard and my heart sank. That pass would determine my fate. After the tryout, I undressed slowly replaying the pass repeatedly in my head. Coach Ruben walked out of his office with the list of players who made the team in his hand. As he posted the list on the bulletin board, all the eager players ran over, examining the list of names. I stared at at the list for what seemed like an eternity searching for my name, but it was not there. I stifled my disappointment and followed my parents out to the car. To my ten year old self, my dreams were crushed and I assumed my hockey career was over before it even

It had been a long season, many losses, but many learning moments, we were second to last in the league and only had about ten wins. The only thing we had going for us, the playoffs. We had tied the West Kent Hawks and beat two other teams 7-1 and 10-2 to make it here, and there I was. Sitting in the locker room with a blank stare and hands hanging from my chest guard, this is usually what happens before games. I was anxious to get on the ice, but neverous too, because this is how the little caesars playoffs work.

The third game, that was previously postponed, was a tie at 8-8 with a team from Bucks County. Then it was a waiting game to see who and when we would play. We ended up playing a team called Big Sky and won that game. Then right after that we played York A team for the gold medal; which no keystone west team had ever won. The game was a long one if you were playing even though the game was only 40 minutes it felt like 2 hours. The game was 6-2 at the half and the keystone West team were winning. With under 1 minute left in the game the score was West 12 a York A had 8. York ran the ball down the field and then throw it out of bounds with under 30 seconds. West got the send it call and that is what they did and ended that throw with a goal. That ended the game and all but one of the West team ran to their goalie but I did not. I was in so much shock from how I went from one position to another in under a year and was one of the best in Western PA and how much we practice we had to let this moment happen. I am now and was and will always be proud of what happened with this

While other students were out celebrating the first week of summer, the New Albany Girls Lacrosse team was practicing for one of the biggest moments in their lives. They were preparing to compete in the Division II Lacrosse State Championship Game on June 1st. The team had one week to ensure they knew their plays, calls and were general ready for one of the toughest games of the year. Among this team there were twenty-five girls, and within this group of girls there were only two goalies. These two goalies, Kathleen Schell and Grace Anthony, had to hold the team together. Kathleen was talking to Grace before the end of practice and told her “I am really nervous, because I don’t know who coach is going to throw out there first. Also, what if

It was the first day of tryouts, and I could feel my stomach knotting up, as I got dressed alone in the locker room. I could hear the shouting of thirty, twelve-year-old boys in the locker room next to mine, and a heavy ball formed in my throat as my eyes began to tear up from the fear and anxiety of tryouts building up all at once. I was twelve-years-old heading into my first day of tryouts for the Edina boys Peewee hockey team, what would have been my first day of tryouts for the Edina girl’s U12 hockey team if my dad hadn’t forced me to leave behind what had been my worst year in girls hockey just the previous year. In the Edina youth hockey association, by rules, you must go through two years of U10s and then two years of U12 and so on

It was a brisk fall evening, and my seventh grade youth football team and I had traveled to Aberdeen to play the undefeated Chiefs. We had worked harder and longer than we ever had that week to show that we were a threat in the league and ascend from our third place ranking. We knew it was not going to be easy; the Chiefs’ team had the fastest running back in our division, and they had scored more total points per game than any other team in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League. The field was neater and greener than we had expected in this town. It was a great day for football, and I was with all of my best friends. I knew going in that it was going to be a learning experience whether we won or lost that night because the Chiefs were

We were playing Fond du lac, and they were good. So our teams gets on the ice and we start playing. We score two goals right away in the beginning. They were starting to get mad. After we scored to make it 3-0 they started sending out kids that would hit our players. Our team then started to retaliate. So we were getting penalties and before you knew it the score was 2-3. We started to realize that it wasn’t worth retaliating. There was about two minutes left in the game, and we played shutdown defense. Nobody was getting a shot on our goalie. The game ended 3-2 us so we were on our way to

On one fall morning, my mom and I arrived at the Hulmeville Soccer Tournament. There were so many teams that had great potential to win. My teammates and I Were excited to play theses teams and push our skills to the limit. Our soccer team won all five games that we played. Therefore we made it to the championship angist Hulmeville, one of the best teams in the tournament. The game started and there were no goals scored. Since it was the finals, we went

Everyone started to have a positive attitude and started having fun again. We made an incredible comeback in the last inning to improve us to 2-0. With us having one of the best records we played a team from the losers bracket later on that day. It was an easy victory and put our record at 3-0. After our amazing day we celabrated like we just won the World Series even though we haven’t played our final game. The following day ,which is the last day of the tournament, we only need to win one game to make it to the championship. As we prepare for our first game of the day bad news struck. One of our best pitchers has suffered a lower ankle injury and isn’t able to play for the rest of the tournament. You could see the look on all of our faces that it was just a terrible moment for our team , but like before when things get harder leaders have to step up. I pulled the team together and told them how we haven’t came this far and worked this hard for nothing. We played like we have never played before , we came out and completely took over. Being the youngest team in the tournament and making it to the championship is a huge achievement , but the tournament isn’t over

Air Horns, Yelling, Sweat, Tears and Blood, this was the moment I knew all the hard work put in over the last fifteen years came to an end. All around me I could see my teammates, my brothers, kids I go out everyday and work my ass off for crying and shaking their heads. The look of defeat was all around me, the feeling of emptiness filled my heart faster than liquid fills a water bottle. This was the second time my High School hockey team had lost in the state championships game. Losing two times doesn 't only hurt the heart but it affects the community as well. As I made my way back to the locker room I hugged my fellow seniors and their parents, and congratulated them on an amazing high school career. As I was changing into my suit and tie, the feeling of failure overcame me and I could tell the same for my fellow teammates. It was the worst feeling imaginable, all the dedication I put into winning this state championship was stripped away and I couldn 't help but feel sad. Cheer up Zach is all I heard for the next two days, as my father constantly tried to enliven my spirit. My father has constantly been there for me, he has been my inspiration and my mentor over the years. At a young age my father taught me the importance of work ethic and discipline. I have carried these traits with me my whole life and without my father 's guidance and mentorship, I wouldn 't be the man I am today. My life has revolved around these traits and after that horrible defeat, I had a dream

In this significant story I will be telling you how big of underdogs we were when we played team Canada in the Final game in the Junior Youth Olympics ice hockey game. The game was at 7 pm, it was the last night of the youth Olympics. Everyone that participated in any type of sport showed up to the game, and most of the people that attended wanted Canada to come out on top of the game. The arena was completely packed even before the game started. The rink was getting rowdy and thousands of the Canadian fans started yelling at their top of their lungs “Let's go Canada!” before we even started having our warm up on the ice. No matter how loud the crowd was or how many thousands of people were rooting against us, nothing is more satisfying for a hockey player than the fresh smell of ice when no one has been on it for a while. It's the best feeling ever. Words can't describe playing against Canada and the crowd rooting against us, it's just makes us want to win even more. When the game started, l felt like l was as big as a beast out there and that no one could stop me.

In 8th grade I moved here to Camas from a small town in Alaska where hockey was a lifestyle. We moved after tryouts however so I couldn’t play that season. Over the summer I decided to go out for the team pretty confident that I would be the best player on the team because who ever heard of big hockey in Vancouver? That was the most I’ve been wrong in a long time. The first day of tryouts I could barely skate backwards due to not playing an entire season and I was completely blown out of the water by my new team. Looking back they weren't even that good to be honest but compared to me at the time they could have been NHL All-Stars. That was just the beginning of one of the biggest life lessons I would learn.

We passed all the security guards who all wished us good luck in our game. We finally arrived to our locker room where we all picked out a spot according to our position that we played. Our coach told us that all the defense and goalies should sit together and all the forwards should sit close. The second the team opened up their bags the raunchy stench of body odor filled the room. I set the stereo up and started playing the Rocky song that we would always listen to before every big game. The players were all dressed in our uniforms when the coach told us that he had a surprise for us. He yanked a box form the hallway and pulled out our new jerseys that he ordered for the great accomplishment. This reward reminded everyone of our unbelievable journey to the state game. Coach handed the jerseys out telling us the pride we should feel as we slip the sweater on. We had twenty minutes until the challenge when our coach ordered everyone to be quiet for his pre-game speech. He started out telling us how proud he was to be our coach and whatever happens in the next two hours he commends us. The rest of the speech was the strategy he wanted to use if we encounter any problems. In his final words the horn rang telling both the teams that it was time to take the ice.