Hello and welcome! Nice to see you. So glad you are able to join us today. Today in sports, we have soccer. I played soccer for about 6 or 7 years. I forget how old I was when I first started, because I think things overlapped. I know when I stopped playing, that’s easy to remember. So, I played for about 6 years. There were a few years, toward the end, where I was playing soccer twice a year. I would play in the fall, which was the normal season, but then I would also do spring soccer, which wasn’t as popular. I had fun playing. Met some great girls along the way. I’m still friends with quite a few of them.
I’m trying to think of how many teams I’ve been on over the course of the years I played. You know, if I think of it, I think I was ever only on 2 teams… we just had a rotation of coaches. If there are any girls out there, that I played with, that are reading this, will you please remind me? I’m pretty sure I was only ever on 2 teams, but we had a handful of different coaches. The very first team I was on, most of us girls stayed together, even when our team names changed. When I think about it, things are running together. I think the team stayed together, with some girls being added and some girls leaving. If the team stayed together, I think our team had 2 or 3 different names over the years. If my memory serves me correctly the team went through at least 4 coaches. We had a really good team. I miss playing with those girls.
Oh, I forgot to mention above, that those 6 years I played soccer with that team and those coaches, that was all recreational soccer. All of that soccer was done outside of school. I played soccer in school too. I was on the varsity team for 2 years, so it overlapped with my recreational soccer season. My second year on the varsity team, I was the goalie. I didn’t really like it, as I wished I could have been out on the field, but I think I did a pretty good job being goalie. Actually, being on the varsity team really helped improve my soccer skills. I remember when it was time to start the recreational season again, one of my teammates noticed that my skills had improved. They were impressed. Thank you. I did my best.
During my sophomore year of high school, I was doing A LOT of sports, especially in the fall. I started with tennis, while still doing recreational soccer. So, I would show up late to soccer practice, because of tennis matches. So, I would change out of my tennis uniform into my soccer clothes, in the car, or on the bus, depending on where the tennis match was being held. Once the school tennis season was over, I would go straight over to do the school soccer season… ALL while still do soccer recreationally. I was hardly ever home during that time. I would be at school from about 6:45 in the morning, until about 4pm. Then I’d have one of my many practices to go to, then I’d go home.
I enjoyed playing soccer, because I got to run around. Sure, I got to run around on the tennis court, but not as much, because I was a doubles player. As crazy as it sounds, I love to run. I’m a runner. Did I ever consider joining the cross-country team? No. I think it was because it was during the same season as tennis and or soccer, so I couldn’t do it. I know, being a goalie, I couldn’t run around a lot, because I was stuck in the box, but that’s why I was happy when I got to play with my other team. I was able to be out there and run drills with the rest of my team.
It has been so long since I have been out on a soccer field, let alone just kicking a ball around. I wonder if I still have any of my skills left. I’m almost afraid to try. I might fall flat on my face. Hey, but if I have my camera set up, I could send it in to AFV and see if I could win. We used to have a soccer field near where I used to live. I think it’s gone now. It’s probably been gone for a while now, so I don’t know when they actually got rid of it. The field itself is still there, but it hasn’t been used for soccer in a long time.
With the soccer field close to home, my dad, my brother and I would walk down to it and run our own little practices. We would mostly practice corner kicks. Since it was during off time, the goals weren’t set up, so my brother would be the one to chase after the ball to bring it back to me. I don’t know how long we would be out there just practicing corner kicks. Yes, I was practicing on my own time to improve. When standing in the corner, getting ready to kick the ball, I would actually picture my teammates, one in particular, running toward the goal and I would try and time the kick right. I would try and time it, so the kick would be up in the air, hooking toward the goal, when my teammate would come up the middle, jump up and head it into the goal. I’m right footed, so the right corner was always my strongest corner.
If I ever needed to do a corner kick in the other corner, I would just try and do the opposite. I would kick it toward the goal, but then get it to hook back toward the front of the net, so again my teammates can jump up and head the ball into the goal. Thinking about all the times I have been on the field and taking a shot on net, I always laugh. It seems that no matter where I was on the field, taking a shot on goal, I would somehow always end up hitting the crossbar. I don’t know how the heck I did that. It baffles me. I take a shot on goal, I think it’ll sink just under the crossbar, but it doesn’t. When out on the field and it happens, it gets really frustrating. But off the field, I laugh about it.
There was one game I remember, well at least I remember part of a game. I can’t remember how old I was, but I remember where we were playing. It was on a school field, near my house. I was dribbling down the field, not many people were around, and the goalie started to come at me. I needed to do something. Now, remember I’m right footed, so I ended up kicking the ball with my left foot. I just took a shot, what else was I going to do? I don’t remember anybody else being around. I took the shot with my left foot… GOAL!! I was so surprised it rolled in. The kick wasn’t very strong, as it was with my left foot, but it rolled right in. I don’t remember what had happened or why the goalie missed it, but it went in. I think even the parents sitting on the sidelines were surprised, too.
My parents had this challenge for myself and my brother, since he and I both played soccer at the same time. They set certain goals (no pun intended) for us. If we got x number of assists, and/or x number of goals scored, we would go to a store and choose a toy or something as a reward. Now, I don’t remember how many assists I had in that game where I scored with my left foot, but because I had scored a goal with my weaker foot, I was able to earn my reward. Do I remember what I got with that reward? No, not a clue. I do remember that it had to cost under a certain amount. Do I remember what that certain amount was? No.
I had some great times and not so great times playing soccer. There have been a handful of times over the years, since I stopped playing, that I thought about coaching soccer. Why did I never end up coaching? That’s a good question. I’m not entirely sure. I think coaching would be fun. But I don’t know if I have the talent or skills anymore to be able to coach. If anything, I’d like to grab a soccer ball just to go out and do penalty/corner kicks. I’d be happy just doing that. There may have been a few times, while practicing my corner kicks, when I would kick the ball and it would go towards the goal line… GOAL!!
Thank you for taking time out of your day to join us. Hope to “see” you again soon.
Hanging with Kristina 