One of the main things that keep me going every day in life and also soccer are my parents. Over the past few months I have really appreciated more than ever that my parents have always had faith and trust in me. Weather it was taking my first steps at 16 months old, learning to tie my shoes, or even buttoning a button, scoring my first soccer goal at 14, standing up to bullies in middle school or them telling me that there is always a future in soccer if I just believe in myself, my Parents have ALWAYS been there for me, and will always be there when I need them to be.
They have always taught me to believe in my dreams no matter what gets or what may get in the way of them. Having a disability can get very tough at times though, I’m not going to lie. There have been MANY times when I’ve wondered what kind of soccer player I would be without Cerebral Palsy. There are days where I’ve dreamed of being that star on my Varsity high school team who gets too committed to the University of Portland, UCLA, or even UNC. But the truth is I’m not, I’m just Haley and I have cerebral palsy, and I’m damn proud of it too! :) Most days I don’t even think of my disability or that I have one, I just try to live my life as a normal teenager, despite the fact that sometimes I may have to work 10 times harder than the person next to me. And the main reason I’m still playing soccer today is because I’ve heard at least a million times from my parents “Don’t Give Up!” There are many times in the past where I could of just gave up on soccer like the time when I realized I was different or slower than my teammates or opponents in the 3rd grade, or when I was 10 years old in April of 2007 and badly dislocated my knee cap and had to go through weeks of painful rehab not knowing if I was going to be ready to play by the summer, or this last summer when I pulled my groin muscle and had to sit out most of try-outs and then making a team only to find out that my teammates were really never going to except me or try to understand my disability. Yes, I could have easily given up and said I will never be able to do it, and at one point I almost did, but that thanks to my dad who told me to always try my hardest and to never listen to what anyone who tells me I can’t do it after each and every practice, I DIDN’T!. And the most important thing to me is that I didn’t ever let myself give up even after some practices when I came home crying telling myself that I couldn’t. But I never gave up, so I could do it!
But my struggle isn’t really anything compared to my mom’s. My mom has been fighting Lupus (an autoimmune disease) for 30 years now and has had to undergo four hip replacement surgeries and most recently in the past few years a surgery to fuse her wrist. There have been times when she was told by doctors that she might not live but she has never given up either! My dad has also been fulfilling his dream as a semi-pro race car driver along with a day job for as long as I can remember, I’m sure way before I was even born. My parents are two of the most inspirational people in my life and am really glad they haven’t ever given up on me just because of my disability and they’ve told me to ‘never give up’ as many as they have because this is one of the most important lessons I have even learned in my life and keeps me going every day of my life!
