My life as a soccer player

       When I was 7 years old, I fell in love with the game of soccer. I wasn't the greatest player starting out, but I at least tried. I played on a team where I met Paul Van Horn, a current Muskie soccer player. I was the kid who ran around the field not knowing what it was I was supposed to be doing. I'm sure plenty of the parents got a kick out of watching me play.

       When I was 9 years old, my grandmother missed the sign ups for soccer, so my aunt Kim signed me up while we were away. Apparently Kim thought I was 10, so she signed me up for the u-10 league instead of the league I was originally supposed to be in. When I showed up for practice on the first day, I noticed I was considerably smaller than everyone else on the team. My coaches knew I was younger, but they had noticed something in me that stood out from any other player they had on their team, I had the will to want to succeed even at a young age. My coaches were Tracy and J.R. Fox. They were the first real coaches I had had on any sports team I participated on.

      The next year I found myself reunited on the same team as Paul once again. The coach had put me in as goalie, which was a position I thought I would love to play. Not one game did I go out of that position. At the end of the season, the Fireballs and I were led to an undefeated season.

       My final year in the Eosay league in Cambridge, Ohio came when I was in the 6th grade. The team I was on consisted of two of my cousins, one of my neighbors, and a kid who would end up being one of my best friends to this day. Unlike the previous year, my team didn't have the leisure of going undefeated, but it was still a very memorable year.

       7th grade seemed to come and go quickly, so I don't remember a whole lot from that particular time span. I wasn't the best player on the team, and I certainly wasn't the worst on the team either. I didn't play a whole lot since the 8th graders took up a majority of the starting positions. We didn't have a very good record at the end of the season, but I enjoyed every moment I had on the field,

       On the first day of my 8th grade practice, our team had a vote on who would become the captain and co-captain of the team. I was elected as the team captain, and I was also given the position of a center forward (striker), which I hadn't played much in any point of my soccer career. As the year went on, I had a spectacular season, arguably the best I had ever had. There are many stories I could talk about from my 8th grade season, but that could be condensed into a full post itself. At the end of the season we had went 2-15 and I made 36 goals, a middle school season record, with at least double that in shots on goal; however, we gave up more than twice the amount of goals we had scored as a team. At the middle school level, we were able to take a spot in the playoff bracket, but of course we had the last seed. In the playoffs, I scored 5 goals and had one assist, which led to a total of 6 team goals. We won the playoffs against Noble County in overtime in which I scored the game winner in the first 20 seconds.

       When freshman year came, I tore a muscle in my calf which sidelined me for the entire season. For my sophomore and junior year I spend most of the time recovering and strengthening my legs as my injury kept coming back and never fully healed. When my senior season came, I was finally able to play again. I was elected co-captain next to a good friend of mine, Jesse Kuthy. I came back with a fire in me that couldn't be put out, even by the most ruthless of teams. I played defense during most of the games and was put in at forward for the remaining 2 minutes of each game since I was able to speed my way past the opposing defense. Halfway through the season our goalie was injured with a broken arm. We didn't have anyone on the team who had any previous experience at goalie, so I offered to train for the position. I spent the next week taking shots. I would often stay an extra hour after practice with the coach to work on my goalie skills to help prepare myself for the upcoming games. On my 5th game as goalie, we played against Dover. In the beginning of the game, they played a little more rough than the average team. The forwards would step on my hands and crashed into me after taking a shot on goal in hopes of not drawing a card or a whistle. Lucky for them, they got away with everything. During the second half, one of their forwards broke free from our defenders  and proceeding to attack the goal. In a 1v1 situation, I ran towards him and threw my body down over the ball; however, I wasn't able to easily get away. The forward stepped onto my side applying all of his body weight. He then fell on top of me, landing on my shoulder. As I laid on the ground in pain, the medical staff ran out onto the field to assist me. I was escorted to the hospital as I wasn't able to breathe. It turned out I had a  dislocated shoulder along with one of my ribs being dislocated just millimeters from my lungs. At that moment I thought to myself, this would be the end of my season.

       A day after my injury I went to practice, but I wasn't dressed to participate. As a captain I had to be there to help motivate my teammates. Two days of practice had passed by, and I felt useless. I had to find a way to get out onto the field and finish my senior year. Game day came and I begged my coach to put me onto the field regardless of my injury. After minutes of arguing, he decided to place me on the field in my usual defensive position. It was very apparent that I wasn't fully myself, but that didn't stop me from successfully defending and giving all that I had left in the tank to fulfill my aspirations. After that game everyone spoke of me as the kid who had heart. One who never gave up even when all odds were against me.

       During my senior night we played against the Bishop Rosecrans. We were losing 9-0 in the second half with 4:00 left in the game when my coach called my name. He sent me to play left wing, or left forward. Adam Fox carried the ball down the right side of the field, eventually crossing the ball to the center to Tyler Carpenetti. T-Carp (as we called him) missed the ball, so the ball continued to roll in front of the goal. As I battled the defender, I broke free and sprinted toward the goal. I slid on the ground on my left side with my right foot forward making contact with the ball. After I had stood up, my teammates were running toward me and the crowd was going wild with bells and screaming. My first goal of my high school career had come on my senior night in front of the entire town. We may have lost that game pretty badly, but it will forever be remembered by my teammates and I as one of the greatest moments we have ever had on the soccer field. After the game, as a team we felt as if we had conquered the world. Not one person mentioned that we had lost.

       Soccer will forever be one of my favorite sports. Nothing has given me more ambition and motivation than my teammates had given me. We weren't just teammates, we were family. We were with each other every step of the way since we were kids. An experience like the ones I had had in my Soccer playing days will be hard to match. Every day I wish I could still be out on the field with everyone just one last time.