A lot of people say that their lives have been shaped by sports, or that they'd be a completely different person had they not been apart of a team like theirs. Soccer makes me one of those cliche athlete's too, but it gave me more than just a love for the game.
1. Soccer gave me shin splints. Preseason after preseason, it never failed, there they were and quite frankly were by no means my favorite part of playing.
2.Soccer gave me tan lines. Being as pale as I am, it's pretty hard for me to manage to maintain any sense of color, but I have had this soccer sock tan line since at least the seventh grade and it doesn't seem to be fading away any time soon.
3. Soccer gave me more t-shirts than my dresser drawers know how to handle. Between tournaments, team apparel, summer camps and the countless tie-dyes from years of team bonding, I never had to worry about not having something to throw on when I was still half-asleep for 8 AM practice.
4. Soccer gave me blisters. Bad blisters. Three bandaids, prewrap, and tape job required blisters. But do you even know soccer girl problems if you don't know blisters?
5. Soccer gave me the entire rainbow of prewrap colors. You always have to be prepared for home and away, travel team, special jerseys, and that requires an assortment.
6. Soccer has also dealt out its fair share of ball prints. Our moms would call them a horrible bruise, but to players, they're a sign of greatness.
7. Soccer gave me a seasonal appreciation for downpours. Three hour practices have seen no greater gift than a relief from dripping in sweat. Games in the rain immediately became more competitive, too, as if somehow the rain just soaked in and gave you extra energy, until you completely wiped out and slid ten feet (on purpose of course).
8. Soccer also brought a variety of awful smells. Combining rain soaked cleats, sweaty socks, slimy shinguards, and more than one used practice shirt creates a terrible concoction that takes some serious air time to clear out.
9. Soccer probably gave me some concussions, too. There's been plenty of times when that ball probably didn't need to have a head on it, but a header goal off a corner kick is definitely not one of those times and any consequences from that are completely erased from the adrenaline rush that comes from scoring.
10. Soccer also gave me and my team this sudden ability to be able to braid hair like nobody's business. Whether on the bench, on the bus, in a rush, you name it. Hair was braided no matter the circumstances.
11. Soccer gave me an unbelievable post-practice hunger. I have never been so hungry after any sort of activity, sport, or exercise as I am after soccer. But it's okay, because all that running around totally cancels out everything you inhale without realization.
12. Soccer also never fails to create a plethora of embarrassing, horrifying, treacherous action shots that showcase your entirely unattractive focus-face. But the occasional decent one is always in the running for your profile picture.
13. Soccer even gave one a sense of being a bad-ass. Night games especially brought out one's inner dark-side, topped off with eye black, an intimidating team walk-out and a killer warm-up CD and you're officially tough stuff.
14. Following that, soccer also creates rivalries like no other. Girls can be nasty, and slap them on a soccer field and it's a whole new kind of competition that makes winning these games such a satisfaction.
15. Soccer also gave my team SHINspirations. Every game an inspirational quote was printed on a small slip of paper that could be easily tucked into our shinguards and came to be an important sense of good luck for our seasons.
16. Soccer gave universal superstitions too. For starters, don't step on the line before the game, your team chant better be the best in the league and the ever significant unwritten rule that your seat on the bus for away games is for you and you only.
17. Soccer gave me an obsessive attachment to a pair of cleats. It takes a lot of time to break them in perfectly and tape holds them together just fine, because getting a new pair changes the magic, and that's frankly not even an option.
18. Soccer taught me a second language. Playing with different teams and players over the years has always made a need for some adjustments, but it happens just by playing the game and letting soccer allow you to communicate with your teammates.
19. Soccer gave me a number. A silly little number on two sides of a silly little jersey is all it is, really, but to a player, of any sport, it comes to hold so much more meaning. It's more than just a good luck charm, but rather a part of you as a player, and should always be something worn with pride.
20. Soccer gave me family; Coaches who earned my utmost respect, teammates who played alongside me, my parents that came to as practically every game.
The life soccer gave me didn't end with my senior season, but made me appreciate it so much more.
