So here you are. State Championship. Under two minutes remain. Tied Game. Your team is advancing with the ball. Goal! You've won! You look around at the sweat drenched heads and jerseys, the captain bands, the hugs, celebrations, and the fans that have been cheering you on every second. Wow, what an amazing feeling.
So here you are. State Championship. Under two minutes remain. Tied Game. Your opponent is advancing with the ball. Goal. You've just lost the game. You look around at the sweat drenched heads and jerseys, the captain bands, the players collapsing to their knees in disappointment with hands covering their faces, the tears, and the fans that cheered you on through every second of every game.
I've been in both situations. And there is one thing I realized at the end of both, win or lose, your teammates and your coach who got you there, they remain the same. The lessons they teach you and their loyalty to you, that remains the same. And that, well that is an incredible feeling.
I've played soccer since I was five years old. I didn't go on to play in college, but what I learned throughout all of my years playing soccer will stay with me for the rest of my life. In high school, I was on the varsity team. When it came time for soccer season, we practically said goodbye to any other aspects of our lives. It started about mid summer when team camp would happen. Pack up the bags with the socks, the shinguards, shinguard sleeves, cleats, and multiple sports bras. I always remember during team camp thinking that I didn't know it was possible for it to be so excruciatingly hot outside. We'd play game after game, practice after practice, down some Gatorade, eat, sleep, and wake up and start over. That was the beginning of the season.
A couple weeks later… the dreaded two a days. Two hours in the morning, and two to three hours at night. I think that is the only time in my life when I have been advised to eat around 4-5 big meals, so that part was nice. But regardless of how miserable everything seemed, I was surrounded by the best team I could have ever asked for.
As soon as school started each year in the fall, soccer was in full swing. It was school from 8-3, soccer practice or a game, and then home to sleep. Those girls were like my family. I could count on them each and every day to push me harder than I wanted to be pushed. I could count on them each and every day to hold me more accountable than I ever could myself. I could count on them to believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I could count on them to be there, to do it all right beside me. We sweat together, we laughed together, we ran together, we won together and lost together.
I saw these girls every single day. But it didn’t get old. We all knew we were there to push hard to get to our final end goal: winning the State Championship. Sure there were times when it sucked, and when we all got really disappointed. There were times when we couldn’t mesh together on the field and we didn’t think we had it in us to keep going. And there were definitely times when we argued, we got verbal fights with each other. But when it all came down to it, these girls were my extended family. To sit there at halftime of the State Championship game and look at all of their faces, to see the jerseys drenched in sweat, the grass stains on the socks, the determination in their eyes, that’s when I realized. We all did it for each other. We all got knocked down and stood up for each other. We all won for each other. And that’s an amazing feeling that I’d do all over again if I had the chance.
