16 years. 16 years of a 21 year old's life is quite a significant chunk. In those 16 years many things changed a countless amount of times, but no matter what changed I still had soccer.

For those who think sports don't make a difference in peoples life, I'm sorry you won't enjoy this then. Soccer has brought me teammates who became a second family. It has taught me how to be competitive and realize no matter what there is always a chance of an upset, so be ready for that and know how to react. It has taught me how to have fun and that you can practice something for years and never get it to perfection, but that is okay.

It is okay to not reach perfection because in the end nothing is perfect. The sport isn't perfect. There are always speculations and questioning during a game to argue the referee, but it is the same as life. This sport has been my rock, an outline of my life and for that I thank it.

I am thankful for all of the training's I never thought I would be able to get through. I am thankful this showed me how to develop grit. I am thankful that for the training's and games that tested all of my physical and emotional strength. This proved me how strong I can be and have the potential to be.

I am thankful for you being my escape. No matter what it was classes, people or life and I felt like I was going to explode, soccer was there to get me away form it all. It was how I have learned to survive and function over the years. It has also taught me how to accept not all things are going to go well. If I had a bad practice or game I would be angry, but I soon learned I look at what I did wrong and then fix it the next time. I learned more from my mistakes than anything else and now I can truly see how much that has helped me.

Why am I writing this letter then?

All good things come to an end. It breaks my heart more than I would ever like to admit. After playing for so long to stop playing competitively is one of the hardest things for me to accept and I feel that goes for any athlete.

I look back and smile at all of the memories though when I realize I won't be putting on my cleats in the fall. I smile at all of the games that stick out. I smile at all of the support I have gotten through my family throughout the years. I smile at all of the times I thought I was going to pass out from the workouts, but found a way to keep going. I smile at all of the injuries I have developed realizing they were awful, but taught me something different each time.

Finally and most importantly I smile at the people brought into my life because of this beautiful game. I couldn't fabricate how truly thankful I am whether it was my teammates, coaches or families that I have met through the journey of playing.

As I hang up my cleats after 16 years of playing I would like to say thank you soccer. I may be hanging up my cleats, but I have gained more than I could have ever dreamed of through this sport.

Thank you for everything.