The Game that Changed Me

I started playing soccer when I was 4 years old and haven’t stopped since. When you’re a kid, you don’t get much say in what goes on in your life. It’s the decisions made by your parents that will help guide you in certain directions. My parents signed me up for soccer and I will forever be grateful. At that age, it’s nothing more than chasing a ball around trying to get it in the net before the other team does the same. Now, soccer is a huge part of who I am.

I played all through rec soccer until I was too old, following that came middle school soccer where I played goalie on both the 7th and 8th grade team. I was also one of the captains. That position was the first leadership role that I had. It showed me to be positive and taught me to be a good role model to my fellow teammates. High school soccer then came around and I can promise you that I will never forget anything about it. I learned how to use my voice, how to set a good example and stay focused in order to be successful. I was taught respect, responsibility, perseverance, determination and hard work. I learned all these things from a simple game. Senior year was undoubtedly the best soccer experience that I’ve ever had. We might not have won a trophy, but there’s more to being successful than winning. The team we had was so close. We were all best friends. We had so many good times and shared so many memories with each other. As we got closer and closer to the end of our season, we all talked about how we’d be friends no matter what happened. Although soccer would be over, our friendship still had a long way to go. I couldn’t imagine not having these people in my life anymore. I couldn’t imagine not having soccer in my life anymore.

My last game of my senior year was at the high school against Cape Elizabeth. We ended up losing that game, meaning that we didn’t move on to the next round of playoffs. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, I erupted in a ball of tears. Soccer was over for me. The game that taught me so much was done. The game that bonded my teammates and me and gave us so many unforgettable memories was over. I cried and cried. As each player came over to me we embraced and cried together. We had 10 seniors on the team, for most of them that were the last soccer game they would ever play in. We all stood there for a little bit, just crying together and letting it sink in that it was over. It didn’t seem real. We had to shake hands with the other team, then we went into the softball dugout next to the field and we were all talking about the game and being sad together. In that moment, being surrounded by my teammates, I started laughing. Not just a tiny giggle, I was hysterically laughing and couldn’t stop. I kept remembering all of the funny things that happened throughout the years. I remembered inside jokes, the noise game, singing on the bus, team sleepovers, everything that I had to be thankful for because of the game. In a moment when I thought nothing could cheer me up, I couldn’t stop laughing. Was I still sad? Of course. I still am to this day. But it was in that moment that I realized all that I had gained from playing soccer, and that was something to be extremely happy about.