Welcome to High School Soccer

My whole life I have been playing soccer. My father was a very good soccer player growing up as well. He started playing back in Laos before he came over to America when he was a teenager. The game here really challenged him to be a better player and that is what makes me challenge myself. My father was getting offers from multiple division one teams but he had no intentions to go to college because he had no money and wanted to go straight into working. When I was younger he would always play soccer with me and always train me. I could tell that he wanted me to be good and I wanted to make him happy by being a good player. Throughout the years I had always played with older kids because I was very good for my age and this was a learning experience for me because I was a lot smaller than some of these kids but it helped me build my confidence. Going into my highschool career I was ready to prove to everyone that I was one of the best up and coming players in our conference.

I had been very close with my coach because he had coached me in the past and he knew the talent I had. The only problem was that all of the offense were all seniors and were very good so I wasn’t going to play offense so the coach moved me to defense. I had never played defense before in my life because I was always a scoring machine for my teams so this was a humbling experience for me. Our first game had come and I didn’t get the start. I was really bummed because I knew that I was better than the kid starting over me. At halftime the coach came up to me and said that I was replacing our senior that was playing defense. I stepped onto the field for the first time in highschool and this was an amazing experience. I was playing with kids that were 4 years older than me and I felt like I was finally on top of the world. We played very well this game and we held the best team in the conference the whole game until the end. I had learned a lot from this game and I got the start for the rest of the season. This was a huge accomplishment to me because I was just a little freshman starting with 8 seniors and 1 junior and one of my other freshman friends. I felt that this was my moment to stand out because not a lot of freshmans get the chance to play varsity their first year but this experience put me out in front of other teams because they would have to worry about the skills I would bring the next few years of my high school career. I remember our first playoff game and this was the best game I have ever played in. There was a crowd of people all around the field watching and this gave me a lot of butterflies. But I remembered how important this game was for us because we had never won a playoff game in school history in awhile. I remember the first couple minutes of the game I assisted one of my teammates for a goal and the crowd went wild and I had some people cheering me on and this moment really stood out to me because this cheering would continue throughout the whole game. I had never had a better feeling after winning a game ever and this one would always stick with me.

At the end of the season we had our award night and I remember my coach handing me my first varsity letter and this was my biggest accomplishment in that season because I was one of two freshman to get a varsity letter and I stood out in front of everyone it felt to me because it shows that even though we had 11 seniors leaving out team that I can step up now and become that new leader of the team even through I’m only a sophomore. I felt like a king in this moment and that the team is now mine and that is the mentality I brought with me into the next season. By the end of my high school career I had earned a first team all star and all region second team for soccer and I think that If I didn’t have the confidence I had to stand out in front of my team than I wouldn’t have the success I had over my 4 years of soccer.

Featured Image: “Inside Soccer City” by babasteve is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.