A boys field As the bell for the start of recess rings throughout the small elementary school, hundreds of kids run out of their classrooms to be the first ones to get the soccer balls, baseballs, and basketballs. I see a group of boys that I've been noticing for a while now grabbing a soccer ball and running to the unoccupied dirt field. Lately, I had been wanting to join them, but the sight of no other girls and towering 2nd grade boys huddled in a group always scared me away. Finally, with enough courage and a pep talk from my friends that they would be cheering me on from the sidelines, I started to walk over to the boy. They are now lined up in front of the two main boys Jack and Chris who are more often than not the team captains. As …show more content…
Finally, I arrived at the group of boys. After a deep breath of collecting myself and what I would say, I started to speak. I stood straight and held eye contact with Jake to make myself look tough and strong to hopefully impress them. “Hey, could I play with you guys today? I said with confidence overwhelming my train of thought, but that quickly destroyed as Jake looked at me disgusted and rudely told me, “Sorry no girls play with us” “But why doesn't that make any sense?” I confusedly asked “Girls aren’t as good as boys, they would just get in the way” Jake flippantly stated, I could've fought back and said something but suddenly I flashed back into reality and finally felt all the other boys staring right at me. Not wanting to make any more of a foul out of myself, I started to turn away and head back to my friends. As I made my slow walk back to my friends, I looked over to my left and my eyes immediately drawn to an angry teacher storming over to Jake and the others. Then hear Jake mumble with slight terror in his voice, “Wait you can play with us, just today though.” Even though I knew they didn’t want me there, I still took this opportunity to think I could prove my skills and just maybe they would want me and my talent …show more content…
The game started with our possession and for the first 5 minutes, I thought I might just be okay. I could maybe even make a save or two, or what if I even took the ball down the field with everyone watching in amazement? Suddenly I snapped out of my thoughts to see an angry Jake dribbling down the field with no defense in front to help me. I stood my ground with a sliver of hope that I would block the shot or he would miss. As he drew back his leg to shoot, I realized he was aiming right at me. Although I knew what he planned doing, I wasn’t quick enough to react and get out of the way. Then before I knew it, the ball hit me square in the face. I fell over and felt a numb sensation come across my whole face. After what felt so long of just laying on the ground in complete confusion, both Chris and Jake came to check on me but I could tell they couldn’t care less about my health just playing it off. “Yes, can you hear me, do you know what day it is? Jake asked in a joking tone, looking at Chris. Then I saw the same lady, teacher and my friends run over to my side and see if I was alright. They helped me get on my feet, but my nose was bleeding and I was covered in dirt. I thought I couldn’t let them make a fool out of me, or else I would never be able to play
I had eaten great all day and I was ready for hell. I got there and didn’t realize there were 100 kid trying out for 2 teams. Mikey and I started off by doing line drills and I wasn’t the best but I was doing what coach had asked everyone to do. I was the only one giving it 110%. Then long field passes were next. Again this was all new to me and I was just going with it. Thirty minutes into practice I felt a bump on my shoulder. It was coach Haven. He asked me, “Hey La Garsssa how long have you been playing lacrosse for? I responded with “oh you know 30mi…. he was shocked and wasn’t ready for the response. I did have great ball handling skills and I was working my ass
Youth Soccer has evolved into a fiercely competitive arena. More and more children are leaving recreational leagues to play in highly competitive select leagues. Select leagues are made up of teams, which players must tryout or be selected to play for. I had the unfortunate task of being an evaluator at such a tryout. Fifty ten-year-old boys had come out for a three day tryout in which forty five of them were placed on three teams. Cuts were made on the field and for those boys who had made a team it was a very exciting, but for the five boys who were cut it was absolutely heartbreaking. Had the children been older they might have been able to deal with the disappointment better, but for most of them it was their first real experience with public "failure". Select leagues have the potential to teach and promote important life skills such as hard work,...
Before the start of the game I was told to guard their best receiver because nobody else could keep up with him. Even though i was fast, I was definitely not as fast as him. He was like lightning, speeding past me and making quick, subtle turns that were hard to predict. I was so tired from guarding him all game that by the end of the first half I felt like collapsing. When they hiked the ball, I made sure that I tried my best to stop him from getting the ball. Without failing to surprise me, he predicted my next move and feinted left and then turning right. I fell for the trick, and his quarterback threw the ball to him. He caught it and started running down the field. I sprinted after him. I put the rest of my energy into this run. As I got closer and closer to him, an idea formed in my head. When I got close enough I would dive for his flag, hoping to pull it before he reached the end zone. It was not a very intelligent idea, but it could’ve worked. When I was almost touching him, I dove. I missed the flag by millimeters. As I hit the ground I heard a loud ‘POP’ in my shoulder. Instantly I knew that I had broken a
Two teams are on the court racing for the ball. The gym is suffocatingly hot and, the students are flailing their arms in the air. The game is a mix of basketball and soccer. Gym class has begun. Blue and yellow jerseys fly throughout the gym with tiny sixth graders inhabiting them. The Yellow team scores and a player picks up the ball forcefully, ready to score once more . The Blue team runs across the gym back and forth like birds stuck in a cage. As the Yellow team scores the heads of the discouraged Blue team hang in disappointment. . The Perspiration is scattered on the bodies of the lively children. The Yellow team begins running for the ball and now looks like a pack of wild animals hunting their prey. They run fiercely towards their victims, each one aiding the next to achieve one goal, to kill. Wisst the sound of the whistle halts the game. Water drips from the water fountain onto the floor . The thirsty children flee the gym. Halftime
In 2014 I was determined to make the high school soccer team. Every day at 8 am at the beginning of a dreadfully hot August morning, I would get to the turf fields for 4 hours and participate in “hell week”. After a long week, I made the JV team. I was never put into the game and felt like my hard work was put to no use. My sophomore year rolled around and I tried extra hard to impress the coaches. Anything and everything was a competition to make it to the top. By the end of the week, we all gathered around the paper that had names of the players who made it. I didn’t make the team. After tears and telling myself to move on, I went to the field hockey tryouts. I knew nothing about the sport and was terrified that soccer wasn’t my go-to
The horn blew and the game started, Dedham won the face off and is running down the field at a faster pace than I was used to. They shot the ball! I couldn’t move my stick quick enough to save it, so I threw my body in front of it and got hit right in the shoulder. It hurt a lot, but what I hadn’t realized was that it hit my shoulder and reflected ten feet away from the net where my player caught it and ran down the field and scored. The other team didn’t know what hit them. It was the half now and the score was three to nothing in our favor. Our couch told us that we needed to keep up the good work.
I woke up in the morning ready for my fourth basketball game that week. I wasn’t really hungry so all I had for breakfast was a granola bar. We arrive at the game ready to play. I don’t what it was but I was I have never been so tired in a game before. The last quarter of the game is when it all happened. Me and number 0 went up for the rebound and her butt ran into my stomach really hard. I didn’t feel pain right away, it was more like something was pressing down on my stomach. I continued to play in the game for about a minute before the pain started to kick in. I told my coach to sit me out because I wasn’t feeling well. I sat on the bench squirming around and rubbing my stomach. My coach wanted me to walk the pain out
It was in the fall of october in 2015. It was a crisp chilly night at 6:55 at night. We had 5 minutes left of the game and I was an offensive player. My face was as red as a tomato, my body was as drenched as a kid who just got out of the pool, and I was as hot as if it was 90 degrees outside. I was running down the field dribbling the ball with the other offensive players. The 4 defensive players they had charging at us. I passed the ball to my left just as a defensive player ran into me. I fell backwards almost like it was in slow motion. I could feel my feet slipping out from under me as i went backwards my long brown hair flying up and hitting me in the face. The green and brown ground coming in contact with my back as
Soccer has always been my passion. I started to play when I was in second grade. I have played continuously and am now a captain of the Suttons Bay Lady Norsemen. We are a high school cooperative team consisting of players from Suttons Bay, Leland and Northport. This is our fourth year of existence and we worked hard to establish our team and its killer reputation. The part that I am most proud of is that I was among a group of girls that helped convince the Suttons Bay School Board that our high school should establish a girls' high school team. We asked to be put on the board's agenda and prepared a persuasive presentation outlining the reasons that girls at Suttons Bay High School deserved their own team. We knew that money was not available to fund the team, so we promised to find it ourselves. The Board approved our team in the spring of 1997. Our team members and parents spent long hours in fundraising to pay for our uniforms, equipment, transportation, referees and coaches.
I’m standing on the wet grass of an Elementary school soccer field with the April night cold seeping through my jacket, my legs aching from standing in one place for too long, and my throat sore from all the yelling. My hand forever paralyzed in the shape of a peace sign as it is the only symbol that will stop the clattering crowd of children in front of me on their feverish pursuit of a bounce house shaped as a Wipeout course. I dream sweet thoughts of warm chairs, blankets, and books; but that’s how I spend most of my Friday nights, and I do want the free run of the course that I was promised once the children are gone. I never got to try the course. I did, however, receive a lesson that impacted me for a long time afterwards.
It was at this moment that I realized that there truly is no “I” in team. A team is not characterized by the individuals within, but rather what the individuals can come together to achieve. For so long I had tried to discover where I belonged on the team. In reality, I should have realized that from the moment I stepped on the court, I was already a member of the varsity team. With a newfound sense of strength, we continued the game. Every single point we won felt like we were putting our lives on the line, while every single point we lost felt like ten-ton chains were holding us down. Even so, it was just another volleyball game. One I had experienced on multiple occasions, perhaps not to the same magnitude, but it was a relatively familiar situation. Strangely, it felt different. I felt more relaxed, more confident, and I was having more fun. At the time, I was not sure what it came from. I was too focused on finishing out the game to pay it much attention. But reflecting on it now, I realize that without a doubt, it was because I truly felt like I belonged on the team. For the first time, I knew that my team was behind me, ready to help me up whenever I fell. We continued on with the game. Despite being down two sets to one at one point, we now found ourselves nearing victory in the fifth set. Finally, we were able to overcome the opponent to win the match three sets to two and secure the second SPC championship for Greenhill Boys Volleyball in three
The smell of fresh mowed grass and fervent talking woke me up from a daze, I lifted my head from the text book which rested in my lap. I glanced around at the 28 or so boys that surrounded me and noticed that I was the only girl. Most other girls I knew my age where perfecting their wing eyeliner and holding a steady B average, unlike them I was playing soccer. This tryout was supposed to be like any other I would get up walk down to the field and do some drills with the other kids and go home. I wasn’t unused to being the only girl on a sports team but in never fazed me or my teammates much.
I hold tears in as my coach rushes to my assistance, everybody is staring at me in awe, I look down and all I see is blood gushing out of my leg right under my knee. I don’t really know what's going on or what just happened but all I could tell you is that I was scared and panicking. Not even 15 minutes before this I was simply running suicides as a punishment for having too many dropped balls in a drill we were doing. So due to all of the suicides I just ran, adrenalin was pumping through my body leaving me numb of any pain. Right before I fell I went to grab my bright fuchsia water bottle sitting on the top tier of the bleachers; why I chose to put it all the way at the top, well I have no idea. Plus I decided that skipping up the bleachers
I 've played soccer my whole life since I was three and have loved it every single year. I played on a non-comp team for the longest time which was a bad idea coming into high school ball. When I got to high school soccer everything changed. Soccer was so much different. I remember my first game first play i had the ball I got hit and i looked at my dad and he kinda shrugged. It took alot to learn how to play at this new level. I worked hard through freshman, sophomore, and junior year. Then came senior year. The season came around and my coach, coach fletcher, had big expectations for me. I suffered through soccer conditioning and lost a few pounds from it. But i 'm getting ahead of myself. the spring season before school ball was my biggest nightmare. I started out the season good. had a goal. But then it happened, I broke my collarbone, again. This time was my worst time yet. I was put as foward to let our forwards have a break. I don 't usually play here. I started out the half with a few opportunities but then the perfect ball was sent over by my defender. He sent the ball over and I took off. I ran as fast as lightning after that ball. I brought my foot back to take a shot and BAM!! I got hit with a shoulder from behind. I fell and felt a snap. I broke my collar bone for the 4th time. So I had to miss out on the rest of the season that spring. I came back for school ball and
It was the start of summer 2002, and the Mid America Youth Basketball (MAYB) national tournament was taking place in Andover, Kansas. Along with the rest of the team, I was excited to play some basketball for the first time since the middle school basketball season was over. Our team, Carlon Oil, had been together and played every summer for the last four years. We were a really good team, with an overall record of 65-4 over those four years and were hoping to continue our legacy. Lonnie Lollar, our coach for the summer, was also the coach of our high school basketball team. I had a history of groin injuries, and every summer it seemed that I would have to sit out at least a game on the bench icing my groin. But this summer was different, and I along with everyone in the gym wouldn't have expected my summer to end with a injury such as a broken leg.