Delays, Stories, & Tears

     “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” This is a saying that I truly believe in. Laughter is a sign of true joy and happiness, and what’s a life without any of that? The first story that I think of when I’m asked to write about laughter is the Spruce Mountain away game during soccer season. This fond memory was filled with laughter, smiles, tears of joy and sadness. This game was one that I will never forget for the rest of my life. This moment was the definition of true team bonding.

     As my team and I warm up on Spruce Mountain’s field, we notice that one of the refs haven’t showed, and he wouldn’t be for another hour, but game time was scheduled to start in five minutes. So my team and I went and sat in the shade during the delay. I sat between two of my very good friends; Anna, our goalie, and Lydia, a striker. These two girls have grown and played along my side ever since the sixth grade. My team sat in a circular shape, that way we could all see each other and listen to what each person had to say. The team took turns going around and saying everything they admired about each player on the team. Bursts of laughter and smiles broke the faces of my teammates. Then it was Coaches turn, and he decided to give a heart-warming speech that would water each and every one of our eyes.

     At our Mountain Valley Conference Championship game last season, something so emotionally happy happened and Coach will never forget, and hope that we won’t either. He saw what a true friendship looked like, and it was the most heartwarming thing, to make a grown man cry. After we had a sweet victory as the underdogs. When the buzzer sounded to end the game we ran to each other jumping on top of each other, crying tears of joy, we ran over to Coach Young, Coach Eldridge, and Kasey, an injured senior who tore her ACL earlier in the season. Coach saw how eager we were to go celebrate with our families and fans across the field. He told us to go and the whole team turned and sprinted away instantly except for one girl, Halee, who stopped dead in her tracks and turned back around to walk with Kasey. It was heartwarming, and the perfect story to represent what Oak Hill girls soccer team stands for. We are more than a team, we are a family. When Coach closed his story we were all holding back the tears.

     The team looked around, seeing who was going to break first, and as I look to my left I see tears streaming Lydia Therrien’s face. If you don’t know Lydia, she’s that girl that everyone would bet money that she has no feelings, and I’ve been her best friend my whole entire life and only seen her cry twice… It took us all by surprise, and as I looked over to Anna on my right, we held eye contact and she said, “This is our last season Syd, and it’s almost over.” Her and I both sobbed like babies. After everyone wiped their tears we laughed and thought, what other sports team has ever done this? The Oak Hill Lady Raider soccer team is one that will go down in history in my book, memories, the wins, the losses, laughs, the cries, and the people.

     Seriously though, what high school sports team sits in a circle and goes around telling each other what they love about them? What Coach would ever allow such events so close before game time? Oak Hill girls soccer team, that’s who. My senior soccer season was filled with so many laughs that it still hurts me to think its over and I’ll never experience it again.. I love them, and will cherish every moment spent together for as long as I live. So this goes to my teammates on the 2017 girls’ soccer team at Oak Hill, thanks for all the laughs.