Rough Patch.

Dear Followers,

To thank you guys for sticking around, I'm going to tell a personal narrative to let you guys get to know me a little more.

So to give you some background, I hop around club soccer teams a lot. This isn't because of any issues I have with any players or problems with th coach, it's because I constantly wanted to play at a higher level. I enjoy the struggle of a game and the motivation needed to win. So, to start my story I got asked to play for a team called Downey FC who played in a very high division.

"Hey, you have to go out there and show them what you're made of. You can take on any one of these guys, you just have to want to," my Dad reiterated to me.

"Yeah, I got this," I replied not even looking up from my phone.

"Remember, you're the new guy. Nobody is going to let you take their spot, you're gonna have to fight for it."

"I know." We pulled up to the field where practice was going to take place. A decent sized training complex with four fields, two turf and two grass. Getting out of the car I quickly turned to my Dad and said, "Later!" Running to my new team trying to make a good impression. The practice went very well, and the Coach came up to me afterward an began to talk to me about the season.

"Hey, I really like the way you play."

"Thanks, Coach."

"Tell you what, you're gonna be a starter on my team. Right in the middle, center mid. You think you're up for it?"

"Yes, I can handle it Coach."

"Good, now rest up. See you next week." So there it was. My first day and I already made a good enough impression to make the starting line up. Practice continued, and gaining confidence, I began to play even better showing off my real game to the Coach. He just seemed all the more impressed. I thought, things were going great! "Hey, come over here!"

"Me, Coach?"I asked.

"It's time to get your jersey number and sizes for your uniform."

"Oh cool, I want number 7."

"Sorry that's taken," he replied.

"Oh, then I'll take..."

"We have number 10 available."

"Uh, no I'm ok. Do you have number 22 available?"

"Yes, do you want that number?"

"Yeah." Things were going great, I got my jerseys and on the starting line up. My Dad was impressed too. Our first game was the next Saturday and I was excited.

The first game rolled around, but I sat the bench. I didn't think much of it, I mean I am the new guy. But what confused me was I didn't get playing time until the beginning of the second half. Again I didn't think much of it. But he pulled out after 5 minutes, I didn't even get a touch on the ball yet!

"Great job, Cristian."

"Thanks." I stammered. Did this guy really think that? And why isn't he giving me a chance to play. In case you don't know the rules, in our games if you get pulled out you can't go back in that half. So being that it was already the second half, that meant I had no chance of playing again. Whatever, I thought. First game doesn't mean anything. But then the second game rolled around. Another five mintues. What's happening? Was I not good enough? My Dad was just as confused as I was. Sure, he had his core group of players but this is just a new low. It continued like this for a while, and I'm not gonna lie, I gave up trying for a while. When I went in, I'd just jog around and wait till my five mintues were up. Later on, my team enetered Albion Cup. There were going to be a lot of College Scouts there, I wasn't a senior yet but a college scout looking at me would still be great.

"You've got to give it your all today, doesn't matter if you get 5 minutes or even 1 minute, you play so good that he can't afford to take you out."

"Yeah ok." Using my usual reply to the pep talks. I knew I'd be taken out, I knew I'd sit bench, and I knew I just had to wait out the season. Game after game, 5 mintues at a time. Then, the final rolled around. Didn't start. Half time. 0-0.

"You're going in at left mid."

"Yup," I dryly replied. Taking my position on the field I really wondered what it was that I could do to get more playing time. I talked to the Coach dozens of times, but he just disregarded me. Then I had a change in mentality. Who cared what the Coach thought, I am a good player, and I'm going to prove it. My only thought process was how I was going to do it in 5 minutes. The whistle blew signaling the start of the half. I was sprinting up and down the field trying to get a touch on the ball, but it was always just out of reach.

"Stay in your positon!" The Coach was screaming at me from the sideline. Sorry Coach, have 2 minutes left anyway, I thought. I continued to sprint for the ball, and after making a clean tackle got ahold of the ball and passed it to my team who got fouled. Free kick in the middle of the field, this could be it. They passed me the ball, I took on a defender, chipped the ball to my teammate on the other side of the field, and ran towards the goal. He crossed it towards the goalie, but I charged jumping as high as I could. I jumped higher than the goalie's hands and head it in for a 1-0 lead. I did it! I scored! We continued the rest of the half as usual, just with me still at left mid. The game ended. 1-0 us. It was an amazing feeling, but not much changed after the game. Still had low playing time, sometimes going to as high as 10 minutes. The only difference that I made in the future was how I played. At the end of the season I had about 7 goals and 12 assists, not bad for a 10 minute player. When the season came to a close I began searching for other teams, trying to actually find a good fit for me. And I did, with Slammers. I continued to practice with Downey, but periodically skipped practice now as I was about to join Slammers. But the Downey took it as his chance, he sent me a text message kicking me off the team because I missed practice 3 times. He wished me the best, but wanted me off his team. This was completely ok with me, sure it hurt, but I knew he didn't like me. His "star" players would miss practice for weeks at a time and still get to play the whole game without penalty. Downey, without me, was a solid team that probably only lost a handful of times throughout the season.

Being on my new team, I played for much longer lengths of time. Maybe 3/4 of the game, if not more. It was awesome! And my Dad was finally enjoying himself too, but he made sure to stay updated on the Downey FC team. One day, he called me into the room and said excitedly, "Downey lost their first game!"

"Lol," was my only response. I didn't care anymore, I had a better opportunity where I was. But that phrase began to become more frequent.

"Hey, Downey lost again!" It got to a point where I just expected them to lose. They went the whole season without winning a game, only had a win due to game that was forfeited by a team that they lost to who dropped out of the league. That team disbanded shortly after that season. While my season went alright coming in the middle of the pack in a very competitive league. It was for the best that I left that team, and I'm glad I did. On the Downey team I never really talked, nobody on that team ever liked me. But on my new team I have much better friends who have my back.

I have two points: The first being, if you're in a bad situation, never stop trying your best. It'll be well worth it in the end. My second being, the moment you can trade your bad situation for a better one, go for it! You never know other opportunities until you take them!

Thank you for reading!

From,

Shrimp707