Responsibility Is What Leads You To Grow As A Person

Growing up in my house football was and still is a huge part of life. I’ve always taken after my dad and favored the New York Jets; he grew up in New York and works there very often. He didn’t choose the Giants because he likes an underdog story and the Jets have been known to be one of the worst year in and year out. As you could probably assume I played football all throughout elementary and middle school up until my freshman year of high school, despite the extensive years I played the sport. I do not feel as if I ever enjoyed it. It was nothing like watching the professionals. Partially this was due to the fact I did not play by choice, my father put me into football each year and I felt as if I were to quit he would be highly disappointed. I never understood this because I did not play much, as well as I was a linemen half the size of all the other linemen, stuck in a position which felt impossible for me to prosper in. I was able to stop playing after eighth grade because my father were to make poor parenting choices leading him out of the path of my life.

It is unlike me however to not play sports, I feel I am being lazy without a organized sport in my life and the boredom with the abundance of free time on my hands would be intolerable. I had always golfed, it is a genetic trait I suppose my dad and grandfather golf extensively and they are quite passionate about it. When I discovered there was a golf team for the school which I had no prior knowledge of I decided to experience organized golf. I mean can’t beat free golf at a fancy course, my friend Co joined with me. We had a blast during the season due to us both being awful at golf which meant not having to compete against people from other schools, me and Cohen were able to golf at a variety of courses for absolutely no charge, couldn’t complain whatsoever.

Despite the great time and memories I made playing golf I did not feel as though I wanted to return and play the following year. Golfing on the team was fun, however I enjoyed golf as more of a recreational activity than a organized school team sport. Over the summer leading into my sophomore year my friend Patrick introduced me to the world of soccer. I was extremely hesitant to join the team my sophomore year having not a minute of experience with a soccer ball besides when I was in kindergarten. I found soccer was a sport of skill in contrast to the concept of the goal of the game being to hit each other as hard as you can with some pads on. I began to find the most passionate love I were to ever fall into.

I was welcomed into the team comfortably, almost all of my close friends played soccer, I soon found out I was not as welcome to competition. Soccer is a sport of experience, it is very rare those new to the sport can keep up with those whom have years of experience under their belt. Being my first year I was severely behind my teammates and opponents, Patrick stuck me with it however because he said he could always see potential that I myself did not meet eye to eye with. Being new to the sport consequently meant a lot of mistakes were bound to be made, how else are you suppose to get better? This is where I found my ego to stand in the way of becoming better.

I was training with Pat before the season started in order to try and prepare myself for competition however as expected, I still could hardly even touch a ball. My first year playing I did not play a minute however I learned a lot from my friends and coaches. In my head I could see the player I could be but it did not translate anywhere close into my game, yet. This was where I started to lose my motivation for playing, I felt as if there couldn’t possibly be any way to make up the experience all the others have on me. This along with not finding success with the little experience I did have discouraged me. Patrick being the high-level player he was could see that potential I could not, he did not let me give up however he always reminded me “Ronaldo practiced stepovers alone 3 hours a day and it still took him years to perfect that signature move”. Pat is not only one of the best players on every field he stepped on, he was always one of the most intelligent, funny, and inviting person in every room he stepped in, you could always feel his positive presence when you were in it. He has wisdom greater in importance to me than I ever imagined. I kept with me this wisdom when he moved away from my school to further his career for himself. The last piece he left me with before going to further his career was as follows, “When you make a mistake, you work five times harder until you rectify that mistake you made.” It was after my junior year I had to sit myself down and change my mindset, I needed to want to be as good as Pat wanted me to be. I love this sport, being my biggest passion I didn’t want my time playing to be so short lived. This is when I started to ingrain in my head to myself that there is nothing I can do to change the past, to get back the time I feel would have made me much better by now. All I can do is work that much harder in the future and take charge of what is ahead, no more excuses could be made, excuses from then on would be more time wasted, precious time I cannot get back. When I learned with the help of my coach to not sulk in what I cannot control and put my focus and attention toward which I can control. This is where I began to see my potential begin to prosper.

I worked and worked in the long off-season we had, most of the time at the college down the street at the college turf by myself shooting and dribbling for hours day in and day out. Simultaneously I was trying to prepare myself with the prospect of not being able to play soccer after this year, as much as I worked, college is another level ahead. My senior year finally came and all of the hard work, hours upon hours paid off. I did not start to begin the season because playing varsity minutes was new to me. However when I subbed in I made the most of every minute. If I made a mistake, I worked that much harder to correct for it. Half way through the season it all came together, I started and almost played the full eighty minutes of the remaining games even scoring my first ever goal, as well as achieving my first assist. All good things start, and consequentially eventually they all end. Walking off the field was a feeling I was unprepared for, I thought I would be but I realized truly nothing can prepare you for the feeling. It turned into bitter sweetness however, I became motivated to become even better and work to the best of my ability to make the college soccer team. This was helped by my new found mindset of not letting mistakes in the past hinder your mental and physical ability, to turn the frustration and feeling of let down into fuel to become better for the future to prevent those mistakes from happening again.

“Youth Soccer Team” by martha_chapa95 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.