I love to show my dedication to a team by wearing the colors! I wore many different colorful jerseys when I played traveling soccer in New England. I was the goal keeper for our traveling team.
My most vivid memory of my soccer days is a tournament we played in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was a great tournament and it had a championship outcome.
I mention «championship outcome» because our team did very well throughout the tournament and made it to the finals. Our last game was extremely exciting. Our team was made of guys that have played together from childhood. We knew each other well and played together very well. We played hard and struggled through the pouring, New England rain. Towards the end we were ahead. The score was one to nil.
I don’t even remember the penalty, but it occurred nevertheless. There were minutes left in the game and the opposing team was awarded a penalty kick. I prepared myself mentally and went through my basic routine for penalty kicks. As I focused on the kicker, I noted how he lined up at the ball. I estimated he would go for the left corner. I made sure he saw me move to my left to taunt him to choose to place his shot to his left.
I crouched as the whistle blew and the rain came down. The ball was struck; I leaped to reach it, and touched it with my fingertips. As the muddy ball glanced off my Reusch-gloved hand, it nicked the cross-bar, and landed in an out-of-bounds puddle.
The penalty shot was averted and the win was still within our grasp! Marcus, my sweeper, did an incredible job defending the middle for the remainder of the game. We were able to hold off the opposing team by means of Mr. I’s advice and win the final match. A glorious day followed as our team celebrated our victory in New England.
This story, true as it may be, all happened twenty-two years ago. Some members of our team still keep in touch. We have gone our separate ways as successful business owners, teachers, bartenders, and computer technicians. We are all adults and living prosperous lives now. However, I am confident that the men who work the jobs mentioned above remember the story of that rainy Nashua day, just as I have.