The Importance Of Participation In A Metro Team

I played competitive soccer for a very long time, and right before one outdoor season, I got the news that I was dropping a level, and it shattered my heart. I thought I wasn’t good enough for the competitive team. When I showed up to the first practice, I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be a long season’. These girls couldn’t quite play like how I was used to; quick, intense, and losing wasn’t an option. I acted like I was better than them because I had played at a higher level for most of my life. I thought that if the coach would see how much of a better player I was, they would send me back up to the more competitive team. However with each practice and game, my frustration grew and I started yelling on the field, things like what to do, what we should have done, and if we messed up, I made it quite obvious that I was frustrated. I just really wanted to get back to my old team, that was my only goal. When my coach called me off of the field for a “substitution”, I was utterly confused. I was doing the best out there so shouldn’t I stay on? When I got off the field my coach sat me down and told me to smarten up and shut up or I wouldn’t be getting on the field again. He told me that he knows I played on a better team, but my attitude needed to improve because this was my

I went home full of excitement and quickly recounted to my mom the success I had that day at baseball. I went to bed that night with more confidence than I thought possible and looking forward to another day of baseball. Made my way through school that day visualizing my performance that afternoon for tryouts. With more excitement than nerve I began the second day of tryouts. Thursday we worked on throwing and catching skills, friday was batting. An area in which I struggled a little more than others but with confidence pouring out of me I stepped into the box. Even with the confidence boost working on my skill I struggled heavily and was not happy with my performance. So trying to keep my confidence up I tried to finish that day of tryouts but I could tell that the coaches were less pleased with my performance that day. There’s not a much faster way to be served a large slice of humble pie than to realize you may not be all that you once thought you were. So keeping that in mind I finished the day doing my best. When we gathered together to make final cuts I could feel my heart beating in

When I started my soccer career during my freshman year, I began in the junior varsity team. I was not so familiar with sports until I started playing football and soccer. I once believed that I was not good enough to join the team, but after committing myself to conditioning and being determined to give my best to every practice, I proved myself wrong. Not only did I make it to the team, however I was also a starting player. For the following year, my sophomore year, I transferred into a different high school. There, I played in the Varsity team as a right defense for my sophomore and junior year. This year, 12th grade, I will be a captain for the soccer team. I was able to not only build strong friendships with my teammates, but also with

For most of my life, I was skilled in organized sports, especially soccer, which I had played for many years. After a successful soccer season my freshman year, I thought that I would make the JV team for sure. At tryouts, I went through the motions of each drill. I breezed through the conditioning tests, doing the bare minimum for each test. I didn’t try as hard as others, as I felt that I was more skillful than most of my peers.

It is my junior year of high school and basketball season is right around the corner. I am on the verge of either making varsity or junior varsity this year depending upon my skills. Went through the tryouts and was able to make the junior varsity again for my second year with coach Maloney. I was all excited to play there again seeing I was one out of the three kids that made it back there again. From there it was Cam, Anthony, and I who thought would lead the team because we were the only ones who knew how to run Maloney’s offense and defense well that’s what I had thought was gonna be the case but in reality it wasn't. I thought I would be a starter for the team, but in reality I ended up being a bench player or how I thought of it as a

Joining a new club soccer team coupled with almost daily workouts allowed me to improve my skills in the offseason. The feeling of going into tryouts being so prepared allowed a new level of confidence to emerge in myself. With only two starting spots open, working hard from the very start was necessary in order for me to prove myself to coach. After making the team again, I knew giving my best effort couldn’t end here. I showed up to practices with a positive attitude, always ready to work hard. When the preseason scrimmages, long practices, and exhausting fitness checks were over, the feeling of having earned a starting spot was incredibly satisfying. Now, not only am I working hard to keep up my starting spot, but I am hoping my attitude will rub off on everyone and make the team stronger. Afterall, soccer is a team sport; and the possibility of winning a state title in the near future adds to my ambition to perform well for my teammates every time I step on the field.

Three years ago, I was given the opportunity to try out for a Metro team and initially hesitated at the chance. There were many reasons as to why I did not participate, one being my lack of self-confidence. My previous coach shattered my self-confidence, as he would always denigrate my skills. Therefore I had no confidence in myself as a player. During that particular season, I wanted to prove to him my soccer abilities and enrolled in numerous soccer academies. In November of that year, I received a call and was asked to join the metro team after one formal tryout with them. I accepted the offer, proving to myself and my previous coach that when I put my mind to something, the results will reflect the effort. I realized that giving up should

The spring of 2016 had held many opportunities for myself. For instance, when I tried out for the boys U15 Montco Alliance team. That spring my resilience was displayed because I had to work extraordinarily hard to achieve my goal of making the team. I put many hours toward my goal and finally received that email whether or not I was going to be a member of the U15 Montco Alliance team. One major setback, was the fact that there were 40 kids trying out for the 16 spots on the team, that greatly lessened my chances of making the team because so many other soccer players trying out for the Montco Alliance team. However, Knowing that, it made me work even harder. I am a young, athletic, intelligent, and a curious

I had gotten my first summer job where I was required to work at least 35 hours a week and with some of the money I saved up from my summer job I bought a regulation sized soccer net for my front yard. I worked seven hours everyday from 5:30am to 12:30pm and as soon as I got home I put on my cleats, grabbed a ball, and went outside to practice for about two hours. If it rained I either went to the local indoor soccer facility or in my garage. I found new moves on how to get around a defender from YouTube and I worked on them until they were perfect. Soccer tryouts were in the beginning of August and I felt more prepared than ever before. The coaches were a little surprised to see me because they thought I might have given up after being let down twice but this time was going to be different. I tried all the moves that the internet had taught me and I came in third for speed and agility testing. As I was leaving after the last day of tryouts my soccer coach stopped me to say he was proud of my work and that things were looking good for me being moved up. On the Monday after the results were supposed to be

After playing ball freshman and sophomore year, I began to lose motivation and love for the game. I began receiving less and less playing time and my confidence was being torn by the coaches. Throughout this time however, I had grown a love and appreciation for the sport of soccer. I had been playing informal pickup games on the weekends with friends. My parents encouraged me to try out for the team my sophomore

At tryouts all I wanted was to be on that team. All I thought had to do to reach my next goal was work hard. I remember walking down that back stairwell, full of students, rushing to get to the clear front doors of the school, where the list that my goal depended on was surrounded by my teammates. I used my height to my advantage and peeked over the crowd. My anticipation was quickly crushed, though, by an all encompassing sadness of not making the core team, but secondary one. That sadness quickly morphed into an unbridled anger. I was angry at myself, my teammates, God, but especially my coach, who I would later find out made promises to parents from the past season that their children would be starters. I never let the anger show during that forgotten season, I made some good memories and grew closer to people I thought I couldn't, but that anger was bottled up and needed escape. I needed revenge and that came in the form of club volleyball. I made the top team, and grew exponentially as a player, even playing on an older team for nationals. I came back ready for that next school season. I walked into the air conditioned, orange lighted, smelly, old gym full of confidence. I could do anything and no one was going to stop me from reaching my goal. I did make the core team that year. My goal I’d wanted for a year was completed and yet left me feeling unsatisfied and wanting more. These memories block out many others I’ve made in a wonderful six year volleyball career. It has formed me into the volleyball player I am today and that unsatisfied feeling gave way one of my next goals now, to play volleyball for a collegiate program at a division one school. But the only way to get that dream, as I have learned so many times, is work hard, pursue what you want, and never let anyone decide your fate for you, because if they do, it won't fulfill the goals you have chosen for

As I became older, entering my young teenage years in life, I took on the interest of playing sports for my middle school. I remember trying out for the girl’s basketball team in the summer going into the eighth grade. I know I had competition but I felt highly confident from the skills I gained during the previous years. Try outs were all morning and I caused my parents so much trouble from telling them in such a short notice. I anxiously waited for the final results, even though they weren’t posted on the gym door until later that evening. Later on that day I learned that I didn’t make

U-15 team camp will continue to play a major role in my life. I expected team camp to be a magical time,therefore, I would build new friendships and learn valuable skills to help my soccer career excel. However, it was a challenge to change my teammate's minds with a gorgeous goal. The soccer field was covered in dew, due to the mid-August humidity. As I sat down to stretch, I realized everyone was staring at me. I thought the glares were because I was new to the team. However, I neglected to realize what they truly meant. No one believed was deserving to play for such an elite team, as I was only an eighth grader and they were all about to start their journey to high school. This made my stomach turn and I began to go haywire. I knew they

I made the B team as a result became one of the middle or worst players, but my coach shaped me up into a better soccer player. During practice, I really didn’t like my coach a lot like my teammates. When the opening game of the season came around, we looked good but not amazing. The first half started off slow but when the second half began, we played faster and stronger also in the end we won. We played well through the first half of the season ended, we started to lose like the bad News Bears. At the end of the season we finished at the bottom of the table. We got relegated to challenge 1. Then the next tryouts came around I needed to make the same team or the top team, because there was no C team this year. In the end, I made the B team as usual. We had a new coach named Dwayne and he shaped us up better than ever before. The club of Westminster fought for my team to be in Classic 4 instead of challenge 1. We won our case furthermore the club told us that they wanted to see good things from us this season. We started really well as a result when that fiasco was finished we were in first place with Arsonal behind us. Then when that season ended, we had to switch to birth year teams so all the 2002 kids moved up to U15 me and 3 others from my team only moved up to U14, also new teams from the age group would move up to

I have always been fascinated with all the events that occur in the Summer Olympics from diving to soccer. The Olympics were a way for me to get out into the world. After watching the sports on t.v. I wanted to also play them. From the ages of five to ten-years old, I participated in multiple activities including soccer, dance, tumbling, basketball, volleyball, softball, cheerleading, and track and field. At the age of ten, I decided that soccer was my favorite sport out of all the ones I had tried, so I tried out for a select soccer team and made it. I was determined to get somewhere with soccer and not just waste all the money and time that my parents were spending on me. Once high school came around I had no time for anything other than soccer, soccer, and more soccer. I played select soccer during the Fall and school soccer during the Spring. As I was approaching my Senior year of high school, I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to want me to play for them in college. I knew I had to try my best for my parents so on June 18, 2015 I toured Southwestern Illinois College and was asked if I wanted to play soccer for them and go to school for free. December 1, 2015 I signed to play soccer for one year with