Story of Being a Soccer Player, Essay Example

Two years ago, soccer was not just a hobby, it was like my girlfriend.  And my story of being a soccer player in this sense is something like a relationship that has developed over time.

I was a little bit rebellious when I was young. I was playing everywhere, inside the house, in the street. I always bothered my neighbors and they were mad at me, arguing with my family everyday about my behavior, as though there was nothing else to talk about except my annoying act. We have a basement floor in my house and I spent all my time playing soccer there when I was not outside.  Once, while I was playing with my brother and my sister, I broke the arm and leg of some masterpiece sculpture which my mother loved and I remember that she got really upset about that. She took me out of the house that day and told me: “don’t you dare break one of the incredible things that I love, if you want to play, play outside the house!”

Eventually it got to the point that she talked with her friend about my behavior. Fortunately, her husband is a soccer coach for the Yarmok team from Kuwait, my country, and she told my mom that if I am interested in this particular sport she would talk to her husband about me in order to let him know that there is a new player who would like to join the team. After that my mom talked with me about joining Yarmok, but also emphasized that I should be assiduous in my school work because my performance in soccer was much better than my performance in school. I went to her husband and eventually he tested my skills over with some new players in order to find out how good a player I was and where my strengths were. Yarmok at the time had many quality players and he wanted to determine if I was a player good enough to join the team.

I had been playing with Yarmok for quite some time, when there was an extremely important match between my team and one of the highest ranked team in Kuwait. This particular match would take place in two months and I looked at it as an opportunity, thinking that I would have the change to prove myself in front of everybody, especially Kuwait Soccer Association. I was really practicing hard with my team and our coach gave us a lot of wonderful exercises that would be useful for the match. My concentration was steady during this time, and I honed my skills with my teammates in the soccer yard, following closely the instructions of our coach. Our team at the time was the weakest club in Kuwait, so I was looking forward to joining an excellent and one of the famous teams in my country and in the world at the same time, if my play was good enough.  I thought that by winning the match I could draw the attention of Kuwait Soccer Association or even the team that we would compete with because they would admire what I am capable of, for example, my skills in controlling the ball.  That was really my desire, to move forward and be part of a good team, I wanted my team to win every match. When I talked with the coach about this, he told me that I would have to attend training everyday and not miss a single practice. Finally, he said, “the ball is in your court.” I listened to his advice very carefully.

The big day arrived, the day that everybody has been waiting for.  The public believed that our opponents would defeat us just as easy as any other team, but we felt differently. We thought we were going to confront this team and, personally, I felt that I was going to show everybody that I was better than even my own teammates, so that I would be able to join a better and stronger team.

The match was about to start and all the players were prepared for it, even though there was an important player on my team who was absent due to an illness that he has been through. The atmosphere was exciting, as we put on our shoes, getting ready for the warm up that all teams perform before the match so as not only to avoid injuries, but to also be even more active, forceful, and energetic in the match. My ambition was to achieve two goals in a single moment, not only winning the match, but also joining the Kuwait national team, which I had always dreamed about.

The match started, the long sound of the whistle, the audience filling up all the seats and my family was there too, which made me more motivated, helping me towards a good performance in the match.  I played the best I could trying to show my skills and be fitter and more disciplined than anyone else on the field.

Towards the end of the game, with approximately 6 minutes and additional time remaining, an opposing player suddenly became very spiteful to me. He pushed me in an deliberate and calculated manner in order to take me out of the game, but as a result got a red card from referee. Unfortunately, I received a series injury and could not complete the rest the match. I remember clearly as a small car with two physiotherapists took me off the field so that they could examine what happened with my leg. They immediately began initiating some sort of natural therapy while I told them I have to complete the last four minutes of the match. They said, “we will do the best we can to kill the pain or treat the injury a little bit”, but they could not. I felt a sharp and constant pain in my leg, but because I was determined to continue, they also sprayed my leg with anesthetic spray. But that also did not help.  I was terribly upset about what was happening and my coach told me to not resume the match in order to not incur further injury to my leg and I reluctantly obeyed him.

We won the game, and the score was 1-0, a shocking result. It was truly a memorable game that I could not forget it and it remains present in my mind. It was a special moment and a truly wonderful memory also on a personal level, because the Kuwait national team chose me to be one of its members and to get the opportunity to know the new players who I was going play alongside. At that moment specifically, I could not believe what had happened: “is that true, is it true that I am one of the Kuwait national team players?”, I said to myself. In addition, they rewarded me as the best player in the game, we all received a gold medal and I hoisted the victory cup up in front of the audience and my family who were cheering me with their applause.

I could not believe that I had achieved all my goals, goals for which I had been suffering for, and it was amazing to think that I had finally accomplished them. My coach told me that my hard work was the reason why I achieved my goal, telling me that although I was an ambitious player but I would have to work hard, work dilligently, and be engaged. My family was very excited that we won the match and that I was also the best player in that match, although they were also concerned about my injury. I did not know that there is some sort of risk in this sport, but I learned this after my injury and I think every sport has its own type of danger. Typically, in soccer, the most hazardous area is the leg because of the pressure and force that is exerted upon the player’s legs during a match. After a long time of playing soccer, I can see soccer from another angle. I used to admire people who play soccer and playing soccer myself led me to injuries, but for me it was worth it, because that is what I love, and that’ is what I adore.

However, this is not only a story about soccer. This is a story about learning something, regardless of what your skills or your abilities are. It is also about unique experiences which the individual goes through. I would not have had the experiences I did if I did not set on the path that was offered to me. Certainly, some of these experiences will be negative, such as with the injury I received. However, these negative moments do not define the experience itself, they are only one part of the experience. There is a risk to every endeavor we take. But this risk does not determine our relationships to the things we love doing. If you have a favorite hobby, such as sports or anything you happen to be proficient in, even though the riskiness is there, it will not matter for you anyway, because the love for what you do is stronger than any element of risk.