Personal Narrative: Soccer Is A Team Sport

Every time school starts I am always looking forward to soccer season because that’s what I love doing the most and what i focus on. When soccer tryouts come up I am always ready also I am always prepared to give it my all to go out there and impress the coaches and let them know how much it means to me to join the team and how bad I want to play. There is two days of soccer tryouts and I attend both days because is very important for me to make the soccer team. I went to day one of soccer tryouts and I was trying my best to get attention from the coaches that were watching but then I felt like I didn’t give it my all, I felt disappointed because I know I could do better, at this point I was worried and stressed out but I never planned on giving up. I told myself that I was going to do better the next day.

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?

“ Run Agatha, Run,” my mom and dad would yell to me as I ran the soccer ball down the field past other players. Soccer was my sport, it was what I was destined to do, if I wasn’t doing that I would not know where I would be in life. My mom had put me into this sport when I was only 4 years old and ever since then I couldn’t stop playing.I was the best on my team and getting a scholarship for my dedication and hard work. My siblings, Jennifer and Jonathan couldn’t be less interested in sports, let alone soccer. My family and I lived in a small apartment that consisted of 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, and a little dining area. My siblings and I barely had anywhere to sleep and food was a problem. I wanted a better future for my family and so soccer was the answer to all my prayers.

Nothing brings a team closer than working together towards a goal. I discovered this especially during the final game of my soccer league tournament last spring. My team, the Saints, had just finished a bittersweet season. After losing our leading scorers the year before, we had defied the odds and made it to the third place game in our tournament. The team we faced were our longtime rivals, the Lions. We were not about to let any opportunity to beat them pass us by. Our offense was ready to score, and our defense was prepared for anything. From the starting kickoff to the final whistle, my team and I played our hardest, and taught me what unity actually meant.

As the hot sun beat down on all of our determined faces, we ran onto the heat-absorbing turf. Sweat was dripping down our entire bodies, and nerves sank into our bodies just to reside there for the whole day.

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.

With my stick in my hand and passion in my heart, I looked to my left to see the group of fearsome girls practicing in silence on the turf field. With this sight, I muttered quietly to myself underneath my breath, “Never Again”. Over the course of my enduring three years in high school so far, I have been apart of many different communities with diverse people coming together to express unity amongst each other. The exposure of different clubs, sports teams, and friend groups have shown me many unique ideas and lessons. However, the lesson I have valued the most was my choice of finding a sport that made me feel more positive and allowed me to succeed to my full potential.

“Yes, we are all here.” answered my aunt. As we were all slowly driving to the Detroit Lions football field.

Hey Nathan, its Lauren Whitaker and I have some exciting news.” This is exactly how I began my conversation with him. “What’s up Lolo? It’s great to hear from you!” He replied. “I’m great, but I have found the college that I would love to go to and wanted to run it by you.” I was nervous to tell him this because he always told me that I needed to make sure the college was perfect for me. “That’s great news Lo, which one is it?” He exclaimed. At this moment I was so scared to tell him which school I went to in fear that he would not like it. This compares to the anxiety felt when fathers do not approve of their daughters’ dresses. “Florida International University, it is in Miami.” I said hesitantly. “That is great news, Lauren! That is such

The feel of the wind on my face, the rush of the blood pumping through every part of my body, the

I was born with a crown on my head so at age five when I was given a soccer jersey and cleats I was not a happy princess. Surprisingly I did a great job at blocking...my body from the giants who always seemed to be running towards me for some reason. Knowing that kicking and blocking was not part of my capabilities, when the ball landed at my feet I did as the famous and inspirational rapper Ludacris once said, I moved and I got out of the way. During halftime of one game my dad had a fit, partially because I was not a boy but that is a different story. He told me ”you need to toughen up out there. Nice people finish last! Do you know why the Brazilians call soccer football? Because they know that this is a rough n’ tough sport!” *CONFUSED LOOK* No dad! They call it fútbol because that is the name for soccer in their country. *SIGH* Needless to say my dad is not bilingual; although, he was right about me being too polite and this wasn’t just on the court... I mean field. At 5 it didn’t affect me; however, by middle school I became a victim of bullying for being too “nice”. No one treated me like a princess anymore and looking back my crown had been slowly falling off as the realities of the real world

The freshman A soccer team at Neuqua, a team full of passion for soccer. We came up strong in the beginning of the season with a record of seven wins and zero losses. That was until we played Benet, the bus ride there was lively, we were all excited for the big game. When we got there we saw the team, they made us nervous because many of them play for academy teams outside of school and they also looked bigger than us, we could tell they weren't going to be an easy opponent. We all played sloppy, sloppy passing, sloppy control, everything was sloppy. We ended up losing that game four to one, we barely made it out alive. The bus ride home was quiet no one said a word. In two days we would have to go up against Waubonsie, and no one was excited.

I was ready — even the freezing rain could not stop me nor smother my excitement. My eyes were set on the ball, and I concentrated on what was happening on the soccer field. As I was thinking one play ahead and looking for the possible passes from my teammates, the next thing I remembered was that I tripped over myself without even having the ball. I had no time to laugh at myself, but I got up the next second, laid my eyes back on the ball, and ran my tail off to receive the pass. I promised that I’ve only done that once in the season — tripping without a ball, but it was definitely a highlight in my soccer career that added some funny elements to a road of hard work, learning, and determination. Every practice, I’d drill in the basic skills

I spun around in my new, bright green swivel chair, staring at my bedroom walls. I reloaded the page for the billionth time.

I’ve been playing soccer since I was five years old. I first started playing in my hometown rec league for about three years and I was later asked to played on the All-Star team. After a few seasons, my friends and I all tried out for a travel club team called Zanesville Arsenal. We were in third grade at the time and I remember how excited I was when I heard the news that I made the team. I developed so many close friendships after playing with the same girls for five years, but my freshmen year of high school there wasn’t enough of us to make a U15 team so only a few girls got to play for the U16 team and I was not one of them. I was heartbroken to find out that I had been cut after playing for Arsenal year after year. I cried to my parents,