Back in late October my soccer season was wrapping up I was sick, tried and falling behind in school. This was the first time in my life deep inside I was having thoughts of giving up playing soccer. Crazy as it sounds it was true. I had realized that my body couldn’t take much more. Over the next 3 months it seemed as if being sick and struggling in school was taking over my life. After getting back on track in January of this year I started to think that I didn’t deserve a spot on the field. I kept thinking what coach would want a player who because of their disability, is slower on the field and runs with a limp? And honestly not every coach in the world would want this player as their striker.
On the morning of March 16, which was supposed to be a normal Friday, was anything but normal. I was awoken by a phone call from my mom at 6:00 A.M. My mom told me my dad had a massive heart attack and was undergoing open heart surgery. To say I was scared was an understatement. I tried to do many things to get my mind off it, but nothing helped I just kept coming back to things he said to me in the past. This is the moment I literally said to myself “what the heck am I doing giving up on soccer?” my dad is always the one to push me life, most importantly in soccer. A few months ago when I told him that I didn’t know if I wanted to try out again in the summer, he looked at me like I was crazy and said “you can’t give up now, you’ve played soccer for almost 12 years and your more passionate and understand more about the game than anyone I’ve ever known”
My point is that even though I may have more physical limitations than most players and I’m not the greatest player in the world, but I do have a soccer brain and I love the game more than anything. Even my crazy dad suggested I go to the varsity soccer coach and demand a spot on the team, just because of my “soccer brain” and while that’s not exactly my plain, it’s darn pretty close. I love everything about the game of soccer, even the things it teaches people in life. I find a joy in teaching people about my story and showing them that even with Cerebral Palsy; I can play the beautiful game too. Even if next year means sitting on the bench when I need to and motivating my teammates or picking up cones on the sidelines I’ll happily do that too. Call me crazy, but I see having CP as a blessing. If I didn’t have it I wouldn’t be able to show other kids with CP, soccer coaches and players the courage it sometimes takes to play the game and that even I can play the game despite a disability. And I am absolutely sure if I didn’t have CP I wouldn’t have the fighting spirit I have today and would have quit playing soccer 3 years ago.
I’m currently overcoming another obstacle, I dislocated my left knee jumping on a trampoline and have to wear a knee brace for a few weeks and have to have a few physical therapy sessions. But over the past few days I have started to talk about colleges with my mom and dad (I’m a sophomore in high school) my first thought was probably community college then university but when I really thought about it a realized that if I’m still playing soccer now, why can’t I play in college? Call me crazy again but I do have a dream. And no I’m not talking about division 1 I’m talking about division III or junior college athletics. Both my parents fully support me in this decision and I’ve gotten this far, so why would I give up now? It’s only a dream…
 |
| My dad before a race. |
