Personal Essay: How Soccer Changed My Life

As a freshman on varsity soccer, I set my expectations high for myself. That’s why I was so disappointed with my soccer abilities when I was benched several games. So, I made myself work over the winter and summer to have some playing time on varsity. Every Sunday, my parents would go wash clothes at the laundromat and I would cross the street to my local YMCA and practice outside by myself. No matter what the weather was I’d be out there. I would set up tires in front of the goal and shoot through them to work on my accuracy, for my both left and right foot and back up more and more every time I got it through. Eventually, when it started getting warmer more people started to go. I met many people through the game and I learned a variety
of styles on how many players play. I picked up so many things like, finishing with any body part could reach the ball, being quick and decisive on your decisions, crisp passes and soft touches to control the ball and possession to control the game. I felt ready for when the summer workouts came, I felt confidence in me. During the summer workouts, my coach saw me grow in my abilities and understanding of the game and was impressed on how I managed that in a short period of time. He then put me in a leadership position, as a starting center back. I was very shy. I had to quickly get over that little fear and start to be better because in this position you are the backbone of the team. You have to constantly command and communicate with your team. Shifting your team up, down, and side to side. That was different for me because I never knew communication was such a big part of the game. I had to make sure I understood everything that was going on around me to aware my teammates. I went from five minutes of playing to a full-blown eighty minute games with no sub.