"Somewhere behind the athlete you've become, the hours of practice and the coaches that have pushed you, is a little girl that fell in love with the game and never looked back. Play for her." — Mia Hamm
To the little girl in the shinguards,
When you are young, you have so much ahead of you. You probably don't yet know what a first touch is, and if you do, you are really bad at it. You probably are amazing whenever someone kicks the ball "in the air." You probably have to run over to the sidelines when your cleats come untied to get your coach to tie them back up. You probably just run around. You are too young to get mad at girls on the other team. You don't get mad when they score a goal, you just want to score. You've probably started running down the wrong side of the field for all of the parents to yell at you to turn around.
You're going to run into a point where you start to get mad. The first time you get mad on the field, you might get a yellow card. Don't sweat it. Never lose your aggressiveness, it keeps you going. Being aggressive is what can make you feel alive. It can make you a dangerous player. Don't lose that.
You're going to get to a point to where the practices are not as fun as they used to be. You are no longer going to be playing games where you dribble a ball around in a circle and kick out other people's. You are no longer going to dribble at a net and shoot on your goalie for almost the whole practice. You are going to start running. You are going to start doing conditioning. It is going to hurt. Your lungs will feel as if they are on fire. Your heart will be beating at about a million miles a minute. Keep running. Push yourself. Run every single spring as if it is going to be the last time you ever get to run. Your body will thank you. Your stamina will improve. It's making you better.
You're going to start to care when you lose games. You're going to be heartbroken whenever you lose games. Use those losses as fuel to go out and win next time. Use those losses as opportunities to see what you did wrong. Always want to win. Always stay focused. Never lose that feeling of thinking that you are the best.
You're going to doubt yourself. You've put so much time is. Is it worth it? Are you progressing? Are you even that good? The answer is yes. If you are working as hard as you possibly can and giving it everything that you have, you are getting better. Keep working hard. Keep pushing yourself.
You're going to get hurt. You might all of a sudden feel a sharp pain in your knee. You might all of a sudden feel a bone snap. You might all of a sudden see your ankle roll across the ground, looking as if it got disconnected from your foot. You might get slammed into the ground and not remember getting hurt. Don't let that stop you. Take time to heal, but pick yourself back up and get back to training. Tape it up, play through pain. You'll look back and want those games back.
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You're going to find other hobbies. You're going to go into high school. Soccer has been something that you have been doing your whole life. You're going to want to hang out with friends. You're going to start going through the motions. You're going to not feel as aggressive. You're going to not care as much when you lose. You're going to lose some passion. Remember why you play. Try to imagine your life without the game. Play for that reason.
You're going to have to make a choice. You're going to have to choose if you want to continue to play in college or not. This decision will be something that haunts you for a long time. I can tell you one thing, though: you will miss it. Enjoy it while you can. Although it may seem like it will last forever, it doesn't.