It seemed like every other Sunday in every other soccer tournament I had ever played. I play on the U-16 Shock Black team. We are a Division 1 competitive team. We were playing at Katy Park in Houston, and it was early evening and cold for February. I went through the motions with my team through warm up and kick off. We took control of the game very quickly and scored in the first three minutes of the game.
I was playing right wing which allows me to play both offense and defense. As I was chasing down the ball, an opposing player kicked the ball full force into my face. It knocked me off my feet and I hit the ground hard. I was dazed for a second, but I jumped back up and got back in the game. I shook it off and tried to refocus on the
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I remember the speech he gave as we were all gathered around him on the sideline. He said, “Don’t let up because you are ahead. The game’s not over and anything can happen.” Those words stayed on my mind as we started the second half.
I always feel like I have something to prove when I play soccer. It’s probably because I am the youngest on the team. I feel like some of my teammates doubt me because I am two years younger than they are and smaller than most of them. Because of this, and because I just love playing soccer, I spend a lot of my free time juggling or heading a soccer ball. I practice these skills a lot, but it had never seemed to pay off in a game yet.
It was nearing the end of the game and we were winning 4-0. As we were heading for the goal on another break away, the opposing team kicked it out of bounds by the goal. My sister Bailey, who is also on the team, set the ball up for a corner kick. Her kick was a beautiful, high, hard drive to the front of the box. I remember thinking of my trainer’s words, “Anything is possible”. I jumped up at the right moment. My head connected perfectly with the ball and I drilled it into the top right corner of the net. There was no way the goalie could get her hands on it. I turned and saw my trainer on the Header sideline and he was going crazy! He was jumping up and down and yelling for me. He threw down his hat in excitement! I was the first