The
Sport That Changed My Life
It
all began a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, at the park Parque Del Sol in
Oxnard. My dream was finally going to come true; I was going to finally play my
first official soccer game. Since fifth grade I had been waiting for this day
to come. The love for soccer had always been there because I grew up in a
family that loves the sport, but being in an soccer team didn’t really interest
me until the fifth grade. At the time I was attending Rio Plaza Elementary and
all the boys and girls loved playing soccer. Heading straight to the fields
with a soccer ball in my hands ready to play was a daily routine to me during
recess. Something about soccer really caught my attention. Maybe it was that
fact that it was such an aggressive and competitive sport that made me love it
so much. Playing soccer during recess wasn’t bad and I really loved it, but I
always wanted to be part of a team. I wanted to have teammates, practice, and have
real soccer games. For the remainder of fifth and sixth grade I played soccer
with my friends Noemi, Jesus, Nora, Albert, and Erick. I was getting tired of
only playing during school but the opportunity of being in a team just didn’t
seem to come. My mom didn’t have time to find me a team. She was really busy at
the time with work.
Elementary
was finally over and during the summer I occasionally played soccer with my
cousins. Then I began to wonder about middle school. The thought of things not
being the same as elementary worried me. Maybe I wasn’t going to play soccer
every day like how I used to and that really scared me. I didn’t want to lose
soccer because it was my favorite hobby and I loved it. Then the first day of
middle school arrived and I was officially a seventh grader at Rio del Valle. I
sat in class wondering what my friends and I were going to do during lunch
time. Lunch came and my friend Noemi and I just hung out the entire lunch time
to talk about our first day of school. After lunch, I wasn’t really satisfied
knowing that I wasn’t going to play soccer every day how I used to in
elementary. Feeling a little down, I went to school the next day knowing things
were going to be different for the entire year. What I didn’t know was that my
middle school had a soccer team. I was walking down the hall to the cafeteria
during nutrition when I suddenly saw a flyer that had a soccer ball on a door.
Very excited, I got closer to the flyer and read it more carefully. The flyer
said that there was going to be tryouts the following week for the girl’s
soccer team and I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Instantly my whole day changed
and I was very excited to try out for the team.
The
first week of school flew by and the weekend came fast. All I did that weekend
was think about tryouts; I felt excited yet very nervous. Monday came and I was
ready for school and tryouts which were going to be held after school at the
soccer field. All I thought Monday about during school was soccer. Once school
was over I headed to the restroom to change into my soccer clothes. Once I was
done and ready, I started walking to the soccer field, very nervous. There were
about 20 girls at the field and I didn’t know any of them. The coach introduced
herself to us; Ms. Montano was her name. She talked a little about herself and
then she informed us that tryouts would take three days. Tryouts started and we
did basic soccer things, like passing and shooting the ball. The next thing I knew
the first day of tryouts was over. Very satisfied with my performance, I went
home. The next two days were no different than the first and I was finally done
with tryouts. At the end of the tryouts Ms. Montano told us that a list would
be posted the next day outside of the gym saying who had made the team.
The
next day I went to school feeling anxious, nervous, and excited. The first
thing I did when I arrived was go to the gym to check if the list was up. Once
I started getting closer to the gym I started to see a white paper by the door,
so I started to walk faster. The list was up and I got closer, hoping to see my
name. As I started going down the list I noticed my name was there and I
couldn’t be any happier. After that, I walked to class super happy and I just
couldn’t wait to go home and tell my mom the great news. Since I had made the
team, I had practice that day after school and I was very excited for my first
practice with the team. The first practice was great. We worked on our foot
technique and we also met each other a little more. That day I became closer to
my soccer teammates Zully, Rudy, and Maria. The following week we practiced all
week after school because our first game was going to be on Saturday. The entire
week we practiced hard and conditioned to get ready for our game. After the
week was over my new teammates and I knew we were ready to play our first
soccer game of the season.
It
was finally Saturday, and I woke up extremely happy because I knew I had a
soccer game. Our game was early in the morning at 9:00 am so I had to wake up
extra early to be eat breakfast, but I didn’t mind. I woke up at 7:00 since I
had to be at the soccer field by 8:00 to warm up before the game. My mom served
me cereal with milk and after that I ate an apple because I personally believe
that apples give you energy. After eating my breakfast, I knew I was ready to
play my first game. My mom drove me to my game and I arrived right on time. Once
I got there I sat down just smiling as I put on my soccer shoes and shin
guards. After the whole team had arrived, we started to warm up for the game
and I started to feel very nervous. What made me nervous was wondering if I was
going to start or if I was going to sit on the bench. How I was going to
perform also made me nervous, I didn’t know how I was going to do since it was
my first game. A lot of thoughts were going through my head as I was warming
up, good and bad thoughts. I was just hoping to give my coach a good first
impressing on how I played.
As
time passed, game time got closer and closer and I just became more nervous. The
next thing I knew, it was game time and our coach called us in to have a talk
and say the line up right before the game. I was very anxious to see if I was
going to be starting or not. After she gave us a talk about the game and how to
play, she started announcing the people who were going to start and I heard my
name. The moment I heard my name the butterflies went away and I was ready to
play. I was going to be playing forward and I was okay with. That was the
position that I was comfortable with. Finally, the game started and I was
actually really relaxed. Our team wasn’t doing badly but the other team wasn’t
either. It was a pretty even challenge so by half time the score was tied. When
half time came our coach talked to us and told us we weren’t doing badly and to
relax since it was barely our first game. After the talk we had with our coach
we went back to the field ready to play the second half. The second was very
similar to the first half. The only difference was that I substituted out of
the second half the last few minutes of the game because I was tired. The game
ended in a tied and my team wasn’t disappointed with the score.
Finally,
my first soccer game was over and I felt very accomplished. After the game I
was very tired, but it didn’t matter to me because I had finally played my
first soccer game. I believe that that game shaped my entire soccer career. After
that soccer game I haven’t stopped playing soccer it’s been 7 years now.
Playing that game I realized that soccer was going to be a huge part of my
life. I really enjoy playing the sport because it relaxes me and gives my life
balance. Whenever I’m stressed about school or something else playing soccer
always helps me. I don’t just play to live but I live to play.
