My One True Love

I play soccer. I have played soccer since I was about 4. This means that I have played for 15 years. That's a really long time; like an almost insane about of time. I love this game with my whole heart. I don't know where I would be without it. I thank my mom almost daily for putting me in it when I was a kid.There were definitely trying times. Times when I didn't think my body could handle anymore or times when I had enough of the bull shit coaching or times were I had awful teammates. I always stuck with it though.

Growing up in a pretty small town made in tough playing the sport I love. Half the time to even be on a decent team my parents would have to drive at least an hour to get me to practice everyday. In retrospect I honestly don't know how they did it, because I also have two little brothers that were involved in sports and other things. I didn't know that I really loved playing and wanted to continue as long as I could until I was about in middle school. I told my parents that I wanted to get really serious about playing soccer and that I wanted to play in college. My parents didn't really believe me. So to prove it to them I started staying after practice with my coach and working extra. I did this for a whole year. It's then that my parents realized I was extremely serious about this. My parents basically dropped everything and started helping me find another club team that was more serious and had more resources for me to play on. My dad started watching videos on YouTube to help him learn more about the game and help me understand more about the game. At about this time I was about to enter high school.

All throughout high school my love for soccer grew immensely. My dad found a really good Keeper Trainer who I worked with for about 3 years. I learned so much from him. To this day I still talk to him about once a month about just what is going on in each others lives. I started staying and working with my high school coach also. He taught me a lot. About my sophomore year I started emailing college coaches and inviting them to ID clinics and tournaments that I was going to be playing in. Eventually, I found my way here to DC. I have no regrets about my decision to come here.  

Playing in college has taught me a lot. Not only has it taught me valuable skills like time management skills and how to communicate effectively but also the true meaning of friendship. Some of my teammates now I will cherish forever.