How I Met My Next Family

I love playing the sport of soccer. I love the intensity of the game and the people I share the field with. I am senior so obviously the topic of college is constantly being talked about. For a while I had no idea where I wanted to go or if I wanted to play any sports moving forward. Some Oak Hill alumni that play for CMCC convinced me multiple times to go and practice with them during the summer. I had gone to quite a few practices and it was very refreshing. I will always enjoy playing soccer, even if that means playing against a group of skilled college students or a bunch of high schoolers.

While I practiced with the older girls; I got to learn a lot more about the game. I think it helped shape and get me ready for my last regular high school season. I was always looking forward to gearing up each practice and learning something new to carry out with me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the practices, but I was also super intimidated by all those girls. They were faster and smarter than me on that soccer field. I was just the young “senior” who was trying to figure out if CM’s soccer team was for me. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but I didn’t mind that.

The team knew that I was new to that level of the game. They took their time with me to be patient and allow me to make the mistakes I needed to in order to better my skill set. The coaches adjusted my work too and helped guide me as the practice carried on. I liked having that much of a competition against me, it pushed me to work harder. It made it so I had to prove myself worthy and I did just that. The head coach tried to convince to sign on right then and there. It was refreshing knowing that he had so much confidence in me from the start to play for him. Now I practice with the team often, I do their workouts with or without them, and I committed to play for the fall of 2022 season.

I knew in those first few encounters that I stood out and was the young girl in a swarm of experienced college players. That did not bother me though, in fact I loved it. It helped me grow as a person and a player. I now have made an important decision that I will carry on with me for the rest of my life. CM is my next home and family and because I put myself outside my comfort zone, I managed to achieve that. Being the underdog is not always that bad when in the end, I am able to enjoy the next few chapters in my book.

“Soccer Ball Cake Pops” by FamilySweetery is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.