Personal Narrative: A Career As A Soccer Player

Captain John Smith and William Bradford were both american settlers that came from England. Both John Smith and William Bradford were looking for a better life in the New World yet with many different ideas and beliefs. For example Jamestown came for business and trade purposes and the Plymouth Colony came for religious reasons. Jamestown was founded in 1607 and was lead by captain John Smith.(Smith pg.73) The Plymouth Plantations were founded in 1620 and was lead by William Bradford.(Bradford pg. 5)

Christian like's to play soccer but he isn't that good . He want's to make to the soccer team, but the soccer coach doesn't think that he is good enough to make it, The other soccer players and his parents don't believe in him either.

Growing up I had focused on competitive soccer. Soccer challenged me both physically and mentally and I learned to love these demands on the field. These challenges helped me foster a self-confidence in myself when it came to athletics. When I fractured my tibia playing against my rival high school, sending my knee cap into my thigh, I was faced with a new test. The sport that I loved was taken away from me for an extended period of time and it took away part of my identity. Who was I without soccer?

In the United States drink driving accounts for one-third of all of our driving deaths. Drunk driving has taken 10,076 people in the year 2013 alone and it will continue to rise as we remain the way we are. One person every 53 minutes’ dies from a drunk driving related incident, drink driving is an epidemic that can be stopped by getting someone else to drive for the impaired person. However, the more people that are drinking and driving on our roads the more dangerous they are for the rest of us.

The feeling of defeat is one like no other. It was my freshman year, and I had just made varsity soccer for Vestavia Hills. The goal for the team: 7A state champions.

When David Charles Johnson was a child, he wanted to become a professional football player. He always wanted to become a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. As his parents raised him in Madison, Wisconsin, they encouraged him to try new things and would push him to do his best. David had a lean build with dark-brown hair and blue eyes. He participated in multiple sports, but he enjoyed baseball and football the most. In both sports, he enjoyed the throwing aspects of each game. He enjoyed pitching in baseball and being a quarterback in football. When high school arrived and David was a sophomore, he decided that he only wanted to play baseball and football. He and his parents decided it would be better for him to focus on his academics

In the summer before my senior year, I tore my ACL while playing a small soccer scrimmage. The doctor explained my injury as very common in female soccer. But the heartbreaking reality made me feel much more than the statistic on the dry erase board that Dr. Mayer held. I loved waking up, going to school, and finishing the day with some type of sports practice! After the incident happened, I cried and whimpered for hours as my leg swelled to the size of a balloon. But the pain was much more than skin and muscle deep. With a post-surgery recovery time of nine months, I realized my high school athletic career had come to an abrupt and expeditious end. I had also ran out of college credits at my small school in the same year. Because of this,

Chasing the ball down the field to soon hear a loud crack followed by silence.

My whole body is completely numb as I set my feet in the torn up, muddy battlefield known as the gridiron. I glance up to the scoreboard we’re up by 3 with 30 seconds to go. My chest is pounding through my shoulder pads and a tingling sensation runs through my arms. “It’s fourth and goal, if they hold them here they’ll win the game!” comes over the loud speaker as I hear hundreds of screaming fans cheer. I can barely see from the sweat dripping down my eyes as I look over to the sideline to get the play call. Coach calls 43 Mike Will Cover 2. This is it. This is what I have worked for. My hands are shaking with anticipation as the quarterback starts his cadence. “Down!” I scan the lineman. “Set!” I know this play it is coming right for me.

Throughout my lifetime, activities, events, and services that I am involved in have shaped me as a person. The one thing that I personally think has had the most impact on my character is being a soccer coach for Lil’ Kickers, it has given me qualities of leadership that will carry on throughout my entire life.

In the late spring semester of my senior year in high school. I decided to take a risk with my future. All throughout high school I, identified as a football player. From a freshman I was placed on varsity and throughout my career I contributed heavily in games. Glaring into my history of sports I naturally believed college football was the route for me. During my final season as a high school student. I a major family set back. Lucky for me one of my teammates could not bare to see me leave during the middle of the season. He offered that I stay with him for the finish of the football season. I accepted his offer with much embarrassment and shame. For the first time the spotlight of being needy that I had been dodging all of my life finally caught up to me.

I started playing soccer when I was eight. It was house league which means girls and boys mixed, and my dad coached. I though it was gonna be awesome. Apparently the people who made the teams thought that Courtney was a masculine name and placed me on a team with all boys. This didn’t vex me though because my dad was coaching, and I didn’t need to talk to the boys anyway since I just played defence and all I did was sing to myself and pick the clovers that littered the field. Plus boys have cooties. I kept playing house league for two years, until people started to get pretty good and I was still smaller than most people my age. I stopped playing for two years because I became aware that I wasn’t the best player on the field, also being the coaches daughter was no longer the exciting privilege it used to be.

My adrenaline coursed through my body and my nerves were at an all time high as I was finally getting to play in my first game as a Varsity Wildcat. All my hard work had led up to this moment and there was no way I was going to mess it up. The all too familiar smell of the fresh cut grass made me feel comfortable at that moment and I lined up as the strong side linebacker and got ready for the play to start. Steam filled my helmet and my breathing got gradually quicker and quicker. The quarterback hiked the ball and I knew exactly what play they were running. I threw myself into the gap I needed to and made the tackle, but as I headed to the ground there was a violent crackling in my right knee. The whistle blew again and I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. A flurry of emotions flooded my brain: fear, anxiety, pain, sadness, regret. When the trainer got me to the bench to see what had gone, wrong he determined that I had torn my Meniscus and I would be out for the season. All my effort on the difficult, hot, summer practice all nulled from this one moment. All my aspirations of

The soccer ball rolled towards me and before kicking it in half a second, I felt the warm sunset kiss my wet, dirty face. I kick the ball as hard as I could with all of my strength making the ball curve into the goalie’s position. GOAL! I scored my first ever point out of all the games I have played with my team. As I was cheering with my teammates, I look back to see my family. They were all sitting there watching happily and shouting my name with praise. I jogged back to my position. I remember when my mom, my coach, and I went to the soccer shop to buy my own equipment for soccer. As I saw all these amazing things in awe, my mom and my coach already have bought me the things that I needed to play. I didn’t notice it until they brought me home with a surprise of a bag full of equipment.

Gender stereotypes have long been a cause of judgment of individual performance in academic, athletic, and professional situations. Society has constructed and reinforced concepts of the quintessential male and female and their respective roles in the community. The expectations for each sex may incidentally affect their performance and success, especially when tasks seem to deviate from stereotypical gender roles. This experiment explores the effect of these judgments in stereotyped career settings.