Personal Narrative
All of the pressure stood on the shoulders of not only one, but two anxious goalkeepers. One would have all of the glory and the other would feel utter devastation.
Let’s rewind about 2 hours. Two high school soccer teams are on the field warming up for the district championship game with packed stands of cheering family, friends, and college scouts. My team, Eau Gallie High School, had been through it all together. 13 out of the 19 players on the team were seniors, including myself. These players had been together for 4 years, in which they experienced 3 seasons of disappointment and heartbreak; one of which with 1 win for the entire season. However, this season was a lot different. We trained more than ever before and worked as a team. Our ability to be in complete coordination with each other was unmatched. A decent portion of our players did not even speak English very well, but we were more ready than ever to defeat our rival school Rockledge in their own stadium.
This team was like a second family to me and I felt very comfortable with them. I was never afraid of embarrassment or being judged. Whenever someone had something to say, the others would listen, no matter what. So, of course, I felt heard and I felt like I belonged to this team that I had been a part of for such a long time. We were all so close, on and off the field. We used to go out and eat after games, go and get ice cream, or do anything together, and that really helped us all bond and grow closer to one another. I truly believe that our team’s chemistry was unlike a connection I had felt with any other group of people in my entire life.
Now back to the championship game. Win or lose, we had come far this season and we were willing to do either as a team. However, we had no doubts that we would beat this team. Although we had been defeated by this team earlier in the season, we were more ready than ever to play this team again, this time with a larger sense of hope in our hearts. As a team, we stood on the sideline and put our hands over our hearts during the national anthem and walked out onto the field one by one as our names were called. As I stepped onto the field and heard the starting whistle, I had never felt more nervous in my entire life. Playing a defensive position was very tough because your team looked to you to make sure the other team does not score. The pressure was intense because not only was the team relying on each other, but the entire crowd was going crazy throughout the entire game, which only makes the players want to win so much more for the attention of the fans. It was hard to even look up at the crowd, fully knowing that half of them love you and half of them hate you.
By the end of the first half, the score was 0-0 and the game was looking in favor of the other team. It was one of the roughest 45 minutes of my life, both physically and mentally challenging. I felt like the player from the other team that I was guarding was trying to hurt me. The player was very quick on his feet, and he had very good ball-handling skills. It was not easy to keep him from scoring for that long. Due to my fatigue, I was unable to start the second half of the game and I just had to rest so I could regain energy to play. Shortly after the start of the half, maybe 5 minutes in, the other team scored a goal. I could see the utter disappointment in my teammate’s faces. At this point in the game, I did not feel like we were going to win. My coach said “Nick I need youback in there”. I felt a little upset, but I was not going to let that distract me from still trying to win. With 7 seconds left on the clock, the other team fouled one of my midfield teammates. We got a free kick from about 30 yards away from the goal, which was insanely lucky for our team. It could be considered a miracle, that my teammate, Caleb, shot the ball from the free kick spot and scored a goal. My entire team rushed the field as the final whistle blew and tackled Caleb to the ground. We were back in the game, and we were going to penalty kicks. We had a serious team discussion before our kick-takers took the field. Our coach told us he was proud of us no matter the results of the game. He had a good reason to be too. Our school’s soccer team had never made it to the district championship before. It was definitely a very touching speech that he had given. Put dialogue
Watching my teammates walk up to take their shots was extremely nerve racking. I was nervous for them; I could not even imagine being in their positions. Me, as well as the rest of my team, stood on the sideline, patiently watching all 10 players take their shots. Each team had 5 players take a shot. Coincidentally enough, both my team and the other team had made 4 out of 5 shots. This meant that the second set of 5 had to go up for their shots. At this point, if one player made it and the player from the other team missed, then the game was over. First up to shoot was a player from the other team. There was complete silence, and in an instant, he shot the ball. My team and the crowd went crazy as the ball he had shot just hit the side post and bounced away. The first shooter from our team to go was our goalie, Jack. Everyone watched as Jack took a crack at the ball and it soared into the back of the net. We all sprinted onto the field and piled on top of Jack. We had made history. For our high school- we won the championship.