I was super excited because I made the soccer team.

I was super excited because I made the soccer team. My mother had gone with me to give coach the paperwork and to pay for my uniform (an extra small). I tried it on; she said it looked great even though it felt a bit large. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. My mom kissed me goodbye and told me she had to go somewhere.

It was time to get out on the field and I was excited as ever. It felt exhilarating. We started with some exercises – jumping jacks, push ups, and sit ups. These exercises were a cinch for me but I was beginning to tire a little. After exercises we ran drills and then scrimmaged. This is where the problem started.

I was okay at soccer, but not as experienced as the others, not to mention being the SMALLEST on the team as well. Coach brought out some knee padding and other pads for the scrimmage. I tried on almost every pad there and did not find one that fit. Coach told me to hold on because he had something for me. He returned with pads that seemed just my size. I tried them on and they fit perfectly. I was so happy then coach said that they belonged to his youngest son. What a moment. No one seemed to mind, but to me it felt like everyone was watching me.

We began to plan the game. I, of course, was not doing too well. Coach paused the game and pulled me and Jose out (Jose is only the cutest, best player on the team.). Coach told the rest of the team to continue and he asked Jose to run some drills with me. I did them better than ever before. That’s when coach noticed what was making me play poorly; I was nervous playing in a big group.

I kept going to practice and after awhile I improved. We had a couple games and I got a chance to play. Jose gave me some practice drills to run with him. So that also helped me improve my soccer skills.

By A.C., a middle school student