Essay #1

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.