It was the day before the first soccer game of the season, I was eating a protein bar and watching some vines on youtube. It was about 8:30 pm, I decided to go take a good shower. When I was done I got ready for bed. Then I dreamed. It was a tie game 2-2. We were looking pretty rough, every player on our team looked exhausted. I was put on the right wing looking for an open opportunity at goal. We didn’t have much luck the other team kept playing the ball so well.
Then I found a gap and our team passed the ball up the field, I trapped the ball and ran with all my speed right by the defenders, I took the shot and… Crap”, I said, I had just woken up at the good part of the dream. It was time to get out of bed. I made my way for the kitchen, made myself a bowl of lucky charms to eat for breakfast. I wondered what time it was, I checked on the wall clock and the hands pointed to 7:42 am. Time to go do my chores. The chores I have aren’t too bad, all I have to do is take out the trash and wash a few dishes. The trash sure was piling up, I took the bag out of the trash can and brought it outside to the trash bin.
The air was nice and cool, the birds were chirping and the sun was shining brightly. What a great day for soccer”, I thought to myself. I went back inside to start on the dishes, I scrubbed at them for about 20 minutes and then went to my room. I checked instagram on my phone and saw I gained a few followers overnight. I was happy to see people liked my soccer posts. It was about time to get ready to leave I grabbed my jersey, shorts, socks, shin guards, and cleats. I put everything on, grabbed a water bottle and went to the car. I stopped by the gas station to get some fuel for the trip to the school.
I drove down the road thinking about the game and if our team could pull through for a win, and I was confident that we would. When | pulled into the school the team was at our regular meeting spot, before we went down to the field. It was just the right temperature even though the sun was out. While the team stretched out and warmed up, the other team’s bus pulled in and we got ready to do a small drill. I was confident so far, the team looks like they haven’t had much conditioning as I watched them stretch and some yawned.
It was my turn for the pass and shoot drill, my coach passed the ball straight into my feet as I ran and dribbled, then I took the shot hooking the ball into the bottom right corner of the keepers side. I was happy that my legs weren’t aching too much from yesterday’s practice. It was time, the teams were lined up and were all announced by name, then everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. “What a great country we live in”, I thought as I listened to the words. Team captains went up to the referee’s and we tossed the coin the opposing team got the ball.
The other team chose the shady side of the field, while our team stared right into the sun. I knew they would do that but it didn’t matter, our team took their positions on the field and so did the other team, the remaining players went to the bench to wait for somebody to get injured or that needed a break. Now was the moment I had been waiting for, the start of the first game of the soccer season. The other team played the ball all the way back to their defense and passed it up the field. Now was an open opportunity to steal the ball our center midfielder tackled well and took the ball.
The game went on well and it was very close 2-2. I thought I had remembered something distant and distinctive in my head, “maybe it was that dream from last night”, I thought. The game was close to it’s end with only 2 minutes left. It was so slow for some reason as though time was freezing. I hadn’t even realized the ball landed right in front of my feet, I dashed by two defenders and took a shot… the dream became reality I scored and the crowd shouted and applauded. My teammates gave me big hugs, pats on the back and even tied my shoes. The reality of sports isn’t just about what you dream of, it’s what you can do in the future.
