“CLANK, CLANK, CLANK.” Yuyi had been preparing for tryouts via jumpshot on the rusting steel basketball hoop occupying the nearly perfect courtyard. His prayers for sunken shots were being answered with bricks; not the beautiful red ones that occupy your local fire department but the ones that make a harsh buzzing noise when the ball hits the side of the rim. Watching Yuyi assault the rim with his horrid form made me feel uneasy. Not only was he a better player than me, but in that moment I remembered the past three years of unsuccessful tryouts. The process of failure had become repetitive; getting home from school, getting the phone call that I had not made the team,, and then my parents poorly comforting me. The first miss set …show more content…
Four days and change after my mediocre tryout I was awarded the same phone call and sympathetic embrace from my parents. I woke to a loud buzzing noise late at night, a month before my birthday. Michael Spiro’s name had found its way to the lock screen of my phone. He texted me asking if I would be interested in trying out for soccer in the upcoming August season. I had not played soccer since 4th grade and never had played the goalie position so this proposal came as a major shock to me. Leading up to tryouts in past years, I would do little to no physical preparation. If I was conducting a practice, it was short on time and effort. Even for a goalie, Soccer is much more stamina driven than basketball. I would not make it through the first day of tryouts if I had prepared in the same manner as past years. What I assumed would be a culmination of soccer passes and dribbling workshops, would not scratch the surface of the training regiment Michael would put me on. Over the course of a day, the three hours the various cardio became to much, often resulted in the reappearance of that morning’s breakfast. Michael would not let me touch a ball if he deemed me unfit. Originally, myy touches on the ball were grotesque, technique horrid, and diving abilities