Personal Narrative: The Women's Soccer Team

“I blocked out time every week to reply to coaches, sent out email updates, and made phone calls,” Fields said. “I also had help from my club’s recruiting director and my parents, but it was important that I handled most of the communication myself.”

So I was basically on my own. I edited a highlight real, sent it out, and began to try to get in contact with coaches. I had been quite successful in high school, earning All-State awards for both offence and defense, but had no idea how I would compare to football players at the collegiate level. I would come to find out that I was very behind in the recruiting process. Most school had already handed out scholarships and the ones who hadn’t were not interested in me. With no offers, I was very discouraged and felt like giving up on the thought of playing in college. But rather than give up, I branched out and began to try to get in contact with schools out of state. I looked as far away as Montana, to Connecticut, to California. I truly had nothing to lose in my pursuit of my dream. I began to focus more on California schools, because of how much I loved California.

“I replied with Uncle Danny.” She said okay text me when it’s done. So we drove to the practice and started warming up throwing. After that we got in a huddle in I met the coach the we started practice. We were taking ground balls, pitching and batting practice. Once practice was over the coach said, I like the way you play but I wanna see you in the game. A couple days later I played in

Throughout my high school career, I have been blessed with the students and teachers that have surrounded me. Thankfully I have never engaged in heated discussions with others in order to defend my beliefs. On the soccer field, I can say the same, however, I did speak up on matters that caught my attention regarding team efforts and the chemistry among my teammates.

Ever since I was able to walk I have participated in sports from cheerleading, soccer, track, and etc. I remember after cheerleading practice, my friend and I would join the boys in a game of football. We were decent in football, but I felt we would have been better if we were part of the team. We wanted to drop cheerleading and join the football team, but there would be controversy within the community. Growing up I always wondered why there was a men’s football team, but never a women’s football team. There are usually a men and women’s team in every sport, except football. Therefor it is only right for women to have their own football team.

First and foremost, soccer is a team sport. Teams and communities require a group of people to work together while also contributing individually. Personally, I contribute to the Varsity Girls Soccer Team by working to be in the best shape I can be in, both physically and mentally. I spend a lot of time, both during the high school and club seasons, developing my technical and tactical abilities. Additionally, as the sweeper, I must direct the defense to make sure we are organized. When an individual is better, it makes the team better. Everyone on the team, starters and substitutes alike, has a role to fulfill in order to make the team as good as it can possibly be.

I was competing for a spot with girls I had never even seen before, and even worse: I had no idea what they were capable of. Tryouts gave me the same rush of adrenaline I felt during my first performance. As much as I loved the feeling, I was terrified of it all at once. Once I made my first impression on the judges, it was time for the waiting game. It took a solid three weeks until I got my letter in the mail that held my future cheer sealed inside. To my delight once more, the contents of the letter were more than exciting. “Congratulations! You are invited to cheer on Saint Francis Junior Varsity Cheerleading!” stated the letter in big bold block letters. The season flew by faster than the speed of light, and before I knew it I was feeling the adrenaline rush again inside the sticky, hot gym. I put my spot on the squad in jeopardy by going for the varsity squad as a junior, which was something very risky because the seniors always got selected above a junior. Taking this risk was something I would have never done, as I used to always play it safe. An upperclassman I had confided in when I met her during my basketball season watched my tryout from outside the window looking into the gym, and she said I had killed it, and the letter I received that April reflected that. I was one of two juniors cheering on the football squad of all seniors.

When I was eight years old, I played my first season of soccer. The real reason I played soccer was because my dad forced me to play. I loved to play all kinds of sports such as basketball, baseball and football but I was never interested in soccer. After my first practice I already realized soccer was not for me. I told my dad that I did not want to play anymore but he would not listen and made me keep going to practice. At my 3rd practice, the whole team was running laps and I tripped over a stick and fell down. My ankle was hurting pretty bad but I knew I was going to be fine. While I was lying on the ground, I thought to myself If I tell the coach and my dad that my ankle is hurt really bad than I won’t have to play anymore. I thought it was a genius idea at the time. I told them just that and it worked! I have no idea how my dad knew this but once I got home he knew that I was milking my injury. He told me something that night that I won’t ever forget. He told me “you didn’t just give up on yourself, you gave up on your team”. He called the coach the next day and told him that

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.

The Forgotten Sport I am a very active person, and when I was young I fell in love with the sport of soccer. My whole family is into sports and my sport of choice is soccer. Soccer to this day is probably 75 percent of my life. I live and breathe soccer.

I pulled my red socks up over my right shin guard, then my left. I slipped on my shoes, making sure they were knotted extra tight so they would not come undone. After I brushed my hair back into a ponytail and fixed my headband, I was ready. On the bus, everyone chattered about the upcoming game, music blaring, loud with excitement. The game featured my soccer team, Oak Hills, and one of our rivals, Ursula. Ursula, known for their great passing and winning record, was very well going to be one of the hardest teams we had to play. But, we were prepared and nothing could stop us.

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.

After for playing on the Ocala Lightning for two years, in 2013, I went to try out for the Olympic Development Program (O.D.P) or the Florida state team. I felt excited and ready to be beast at this try out. The try out was near the Space Coast so it was a little bit of a drive. As we were driving I was worried, nervous, and filled with the jitters like I am on ITBS days. Finally the moment came where I had to face the try outs by myself because I knew absolutely no one there (except my parents). I went to get my number so the Coaches could evaluate the players. I was so timid that weekend I spoke to other players and coaches about five times, that’s it. The try out was two days of hard work and I

It was finally the day that the American Soccer(Football) team would face the French Soccer(Football) team. It was rainy and cold with a chance of thunder. It was going to be a rough day because there were so many people in the stadium. I was wearing my U.S.A jumpsuit and my U.S.A bandana. I even had a bald eagle hat that at the moment was keeping my ears from freezing off in this french weather. The game was going to start in an hour and I was all about cheering with all I've got for the A.S team.

The next season we improved a lot as a team because coach Specht made adjustments and fixed the problems we had the year before. That’s what makes him a great coach because he was willing to adapt and be open minded to other ways of playing. Also he would ask the players what they thought about things, that is something I really liked because the players see the game different than the coaches. Before every game he would ask me what I thought about the lineup and what our game plan should be in the game. If we were having a bad game or if things weren’t going the right way, I would be the first person he would come to find out what we need to fix. Having a coach that trusts a player this much is rare most coaches don’t listen to what the players have to say.