Hard Work Paying Off

It’s been about two weeks since my summer started and the only two things I’ve done is sleep and play soccer, which really isn’t a bad thing at all and I’m the most happy I’ve been months. For the past two weeks I’ve been training 5-6 days a week for 1 ½-2 hours a day and this is why I’m so happy, I missed playing the game. Just having a ball at my feet is the greatest feeling in my life. But the hardest thing about all of this isn’t the training; it’s getting out of bed each morning. I have been left tired pretty much all the time from the Mono. I don’t want to get out of bed but those two hours of my day, they are the best. And then I go home and literally lay in bed for the rest of the day exhausted. This is how the rest of my summer will be, I have no doubt it will be hard but I just can’t give up.        

 “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine.

Growing up my parents did a really good job of teaching me that my disability isn’t an excuse for anything and I can do absolutely anything I want to in life, like playing soccer, if I work hard. So I have been working my hardest and giving my very best every time I’m out on the pitch. I have set goals for myself but I’m determined that more than just these goals will be accomplished. A few weeks ago my dad told me that you always have to push yourself to do better than your best or you won’t get better at anything and that’s pretty true. One of my goals is to be able to run 2 miles come time for tryouts. That may seem easy for some but for me it’s my best because of the fact that I tire easily. During tryouts we will also have to run 5 miles and I could say that’s impossible for me, but I can’t because I know with hard work one day I’ll be able to run 5 miles, it may not even be while playing high school sports, it could be when I’m an adult, but one day, with hard work, I’ll be able to run 5 miles with ease. People have asked me “so, why don’t you just be the team manager” yes, with my disability that’s an easy thing to say because some people think that’s all we have to give. I have much, much more than that and it’s certainly not my best. I’ve been playing soccer on a team since the age of four. That’s 12 years and the game is my life, I can do better than team manager.

I’ve only been doing this training for 2 ½ weeks now and I can already see improvement. That’s the best feeling! The first thing is that I have been able to go without a knee brace on my left knee for the first time since I was 11 years old, I badly dislocated it in 2007, again in 2009 and again earlier this year. I know it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but it is for me. While I will still wear it during games to prevent injury, I thought I would never get out of that thing. Another discovery I made is that doing certain goalkeeping drills is really beneficial for me. Your probably thinking, “What the heck, goalkeeping drills for a striker?” YEAH! It helps strengthen back and arm muscles, something that really affects me because my CP. As well as agility, which pretty poor for me too. The left side of my back is underdeveloped but I can already see improvement. Cracking my back is the only way I get relief from back pain and since I’ve been told by a doctor it is safe to do, that’s how I get relief but because of the left side, I couldn’t get relief there. The muscles one the left side are slowly getting stronger and the pain is slowly going away. Same thing with my left leg before this is could never shuffle to the left now it’s almost easy to do! I am pretty amazed with the improvement I have in just two weeks. It gives me a lot of hope!  

Just a few weeks ago I was telling myself that I was never going to make my Junior Varsity team but I realized that would never do me any good telling myself I won’t so now I tell myself I can, and I will. I have till August 20^th, 49 days, to work as hard as I can and I have nothing to lose. If in the end I don’t make it, yes it will be hard for me, but knowing that I work as hard as I could, harder than anyone ever expected, achieved more than I could of dreamed.. I gave my best and showed my gift, that’s all that matters to me! (But always expect me to make that teamJ)