Soccer Memoir

It was morning of the first game in my high school varsity career. The coach had told me the day before that I was not just going to play varsity, but I was going to start for my team. I was exhilarated when I found out, but now as I put on my jersey, I felt the anxiety build up inside of me like a balloon about to burst any second. I put on the rest of my soccer equipment, placing the left sock on my foot before putting on the right one, a ritual I always

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

I spent all my life with a soccer ball at my feet. I've had the worst problems happen to me and i'd always somehow get through it when i'm on the pitch. Honestly there is no place i'd rather be than scoring goals and playing the beautiful game with some of my best friends. There is one thing in this world that can actually fix all of your problems, futbol!

Everything starts as a young kid that's when you make friends and most of the time those friends are the ones you experience and try new things with in my case that thing was soccer. I grew up with a lot of my older family members playing soccer i would go to my uncles and older cousin soccer games and in my head i would think to myself i want to be as good as them and maybe even one day have a chance to play with them. When i started elementary school that's when it all started for me i made friends with kids that had the same interest as me and that was soccer it would be all i would talk and think about everyday during recess me and my group of friends would rush out to the field to play some soccer and show off our skills.

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?

Yet my apprehension prevailed as I continued to fear getting put in the game in case another player was injured. I was still afraid of making mistakes and getting blamed by screaming coaches and angry teammates. Sometimes these fears came true. During my sophomore season, my position led me to play in the varsity games on many occasions. On such occasions, I often made mistakes. Most of the time the mistakes were not significant; they rarely changed the outcome of a play. Yet I received a thorough verbal lashing at practice for the mistakes I had made. These occurrences only compounded my fears of playing. However, I did not always make mistakes. Sometimes I made great plays, for which I was congratulated. Now, as I dawn on my senior year of soccer, I feel like a changed person.

As a child, I grew up playing travel soccer, and it was what my life revolved around. My weekdays were filled with practices, my weekends filled with tournaments. Soccer was all I knew and all I wanted to do. I had dreams of making my high school varsity team, and even one day playing when I got to college. This all changed during one weekend tournament. My team and I were in the first half of the first game that weekend when I was injured and carried off the field. From that point, I never stepped foot into a soccer game again.

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.

In the summer before my senior year, I tore my ACL while playing a small soccer scrimmage. The doctor explained my injury as very common in female soccer. But the heartbreaking reality made me feel much more than the statistic on the dry erase board that Dr. Mayer held. I loved waking up, going to school, and finishing the day with some type of sports practice! After the incident happened, I cried and whimpered for hours as my leg swelled to the size of a balloon. But the pain was much more than skin and muscle deep. With a post-surgery recovery time of nine months, I realized my high school athletic career had come to an abrupt and expeditious end. I had also ran out of college credits at my small school in the same year. Because of this,

I had always loved soccer and it had been my favorite sport since age four. When I turned eleven years old I joined a club named Indiana Elite which was very competitive and “hardcore” persay. We had practice three days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I was very nervous to attend my first practice on my team

“Go Spartans Go!” screamed the crowd as we took the field. I felt nervous, with sweat dripping from my face and my hands feeling moist. The moment I took my position, I felt destined to be the best player on the field and thought to myself, “I can do it.” It was my first start for my career as a varsity soccer player for Brookfield East. I wanted to make every opportunity count. I could smell the scent of the freshly cut grass and the aroma of the concession stand. The referee blew his whistle and we were off to the races. The first 45 minutes went by in a heartbeat and I was exhausted. 5 minutes after halftime, the unthinkable happened. As I was sprinting for the ball, my knee gave out and twisted beneath me. I fell in an instant and I felt

Chasing the ball down the field to soon hear a loud crack followed by silence.

It all started one day when my parents walked up to me with delightful smiles on their faces and asked, “how would you like to play soccer?” I didn’t know much about the sport at the time. But I’m the type of person who is willing to try new things. So I told them yes and we went out and bought all of the equipment I needed. On the very first practice. I didn’t know how to play or what to do. The league I was in was for really young kids, from ages four to six, So many of us were just being introduced to soccer. Over a few practices I began to understand on the purpose of the game and what I needed to do. Then we had our very first game for many of us. We were so nervous, but when

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

Soccer is my favorite sport. I started playing soccer when I was five years old. My dad coached my team, as well as all of my other brothers, up until we became ten. By that time I went to tryouts for club. WSA was a great club, and that’s where I started my advanced competition soccer. I made it to a select level team, and it was a great first year. I met knew people and we played tournaments in the summer, but had regular season games in the fall. I was on U-11 which meant Under 11. I continued playing with WSA from U-11, my first year, to U-14 when they merged with the Timbers. When I was playing at U-14 the club was completely different. Much bigger, many knew faces, players and coaches. I had stayed on the same team all of those years