Personal Narrative: How Soccer Changed My Life

People ask me why I care so much. They tell me it’s just a game, get over it. But soccer has never been just a game to me. Soccer has been consuming my time, thoughts, and body since my parents signed me up for small-time recreational soccer twelve years ago that developed into extremely competitive travel soccer. They, perhaps unknowingly, threw me headlong into a life of traveling countless miles, long nights of practice, and an unforgettable amount of tears, sweat, and bloodshed. All which persisted over the course of my extensive soccer career. Before you judge my parents for their oppressiveness, hear me out. They merely introduced me to the game. I developed and cultivated a passion for it that will never leave me; a passion that has withstood innumerable trials. From legs cluttered with scars and bruises, to a heart broken
I had to deal with disappointment from teammates, coaches, parents, and, above all, myself. On the first day of tryouts my freshman year of highschool, I was kindly hypothesized to possess “potential”. I was horrified. Potential was the label given to those who stood on the brink of mediocrity; those who walked the terribly broad line of “nothing special.” I was painfully average. After being praised for my talents throughout the course of my entire soccer career, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment upon hearing the mortifying pronouncement of my amateurity. I didn’t know it at the time, but my coach did me a huge favor with his frankness. I realized that not everything in life would be handed to me on a silver platter. In fact, most of it would not. I had to prove myself worthy, not only to my coach, but to myself as well. Through my extra workout and practice sessions, I developed determination and a tireless work ethic that I apply to every facet of my life. I’ve learned how to take criticism and losses and transfigure them into improvements and