Personal Narrative: How Soccer Changed My Life

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Ryu Toguchi May 6, 2024 Period 3 Nationals Under the blazing sun, on the pristine green pitch, our team stands united, arms linked, hearts racing. A devastating sound would be the clanging of the post or the pop of a save. At this pivotal moment, every missed shot is a step closer to defeat. We need to win this shootout to secure our spot in the quarter-finals of a national tournament. Soccer is one of my biggest life influences. It changes my perspective on life. After thinking we secured a spot in the quarter-finals, our team returned to the hotel, celebrating our success. Spirits were high as we celebrated our achievement, eagerly anticipating the next round. However, our happiness quickly turned to disbelief when our coach, wearing a look …show more content…
As the tension mounted and the penalty shootouts unfolded, each missed opportunity weighed heavily on us. Each shot they made and we missed really added up. Eventually it added up, resulting in us losing the shootout. Seeing older teammates crying will scare me forever. I will never forget seeing teammates who I look up to and learn from looking lost. That day some older guys played their last tournament and game. Participating in such a big tournament honored me, and I consider it a blessing to be part of the team. That day, I felt lost. All that hard work we put in every day, every weekend, multiple times a day, all seemed to go to waste. One of my teammates who guest-played for the older team actually helped me overcome my sadness. He told us to use this loss as motivation for our upcoming tournaments that same summer. He told us it was only a reason for us to work harder and to win the next tournament and dedicate it to them. All of us younger ones who played with the older team vowed that we would push our team so we would not have to go through this again. We would only win and hopefully never go through that unforgettable loss