As you may know,
when it comes to sports, first and foremost, I am a soccer player. I have
played the “beautiful game” since before I can remember and not once have I
doubted my love for the game. I can still remember our first-ever organized
soccer team: “The Sharkys.” At age 4 we were already kicking the ball around,
and while it was more like a crowd of organized kids swarming around a small
plastic ball, it was soccer nonetheless. My passion for the game didn’t stop
there, in fact I would say it grew. I joined the local club team IFC (or Illinois
Fútbol Club) when I was eight and from then on playing soccer was a routine.
Some of my
fondest memories have come from soccer and to this day I don’t think there’s a
thing I’d rather do to pass the time. As I entered middle school and high
school, my best friends were, of course, my teammates on the field. Today, my
strongest friendships are still with those same players and it seems like nothing
has changed. The thrill of scoring the goal, dribbling past a defender, or even
training hard at practice is all still real for me, and our success as a team
has only bolstered my passion.
Here’s where
things start to get tricky. For the first time in my life, junior year, I
didn’t play club soccer. There was no problem with the team or with me playing
soccer; I simply decided to try something new. Of course my coaches and
teammates all tried to persuade me to stay and questioned my decision but at
the same time there were people excited to finally see me run for Uni, and Doug
was already giving me tips and advice, asking me what events I would run and
why.
Neither of my
parents ran track or cross-country extremely well and both of my siblings were
average runners, but for some reason I was different. I started running
cross-country for fun in middle school and it turned out I was one of our
fastest runners. After such a good experience in middle school (our team
qualified for state every year I ran) I wanted to continue the success and
looked forward to running in high school. Unfortunately, soccer season and
cross-country season came at the same time and so did track and club soccer, so
I ended up giving up on running, seemingly for good. I guess during junior year
something changed inside me and out of the blue I decided to run track. Maybe
it was the idea of trying something new, doing something I knew I was good at,
or even just people encouraging me to finally go back to running, but I carried
through with it. I decided that it was a logical decision above everything else
since my performance this season would give me a good idea of what it was like,
and what I could achieve my senior year of at Uni (if I decided to run again).
If I ran just senior year, I figured it would be too late to get anywhere, and
so I needed a test run.
Looking back on
that year I honestly can’t decide if I made the right decision. I had a
generally good experience running for our team, breaking 2:00 in the 800m (an
noteworthy achievement for most high school 800m runners), placing 13th
at state, and missing the finals by less than half a second. I was satisfied
with my performance and really thought I would run again during senior year
until I watched my club play in its home tournament this past spring. I only
came to one game: the final. They won, and it was a great game to watch, but as
I sat there on the sidelines I realized how much I missed playing with them. It
wasn’t even just the games and practices, I realized I missed the late nights
in hotel rooms, car trips to other states for tournaments, even the hangouts
and movies we saw together. I missed my team.
Fast forward a few months and here we are know. Soon I will arrive at the same predicament: run track for Uni, even break a record and place at state, or play the sport I love for two seasons in a row and join my teammates on the field again.
I also switched between cross country/track and soccer. For me, soccer was a lot harder and I was really terrible at it, but cross country and track meets always really stressed me out. In the end, I just opted out of both and I am now a non-athlete. But I hope you come up with a better solution than I did!
ReplyDeleteI also decided to stop playing soccer this year. I have been playing it for a long time, but you cant let that make you feel obliged to continue if you would rarher do something else. The things I would do during that time were more valuable to me. I think you made a good decision to try track next year even if you decide to go back to soccer.
ReplyDeleteGod that must suck. Being so good at everything that you can't decide which to do. Can't relate. I'm just playing, that's gotta be difficult man. Personally, I think you should go for track again. You have soccer season now, you play outside of school, I feel like soccer's a big enough part of your life that it'll stay with you past high school. Organized track, on the other hand, I'd say is a high school only experience. But then there's also the fact that so many people close to you play soccer. It seems like emotionally it might be a little more fulfilling. If it is, then I'd say go for that. OR drop both and do Big Show!
ReplyDeleteLast year I decided not to play soccer though it wasn't because I had a terrible experience. I had a really fun time during all the practices and games. However, this decision resulted from a predicament that wasn't a sport vs. sport decision, but a sport vs. academic one. I had to decide between a UIUC class that I really wanted to take which coincided with the after school soccer practices. It really came down to, if I may use this phrase, setting my priorities straight. I viewed soccer as mainly a pastime, and doing something academic instead would be more beneficial to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to try and give you any advice because I think my personal experiences with running and soccer would get in the way and bias my decision. I do understand your situation, though. Although I didn't join club soccer until middle school, I loved being able to play at such a high level for four years. My freshman year of high school, I played club soccer and school volleyball at the same time and was exhausted almost all of fall. The next year, I decided I'd quit soccer because I'd still get to do it in school. Every year since then I've wondered if I've made the right decision and I still can't decide. Volleyball is a lot of fun, but soccer has always been what I love best. In the end, I think you just have to go with which makes you happier, not which brings you records.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I remember playing for IFC, which was one of the best experiences I've ever had playing sports. I remember one particular tournament we played in Indianapolis in the freezing rain, and that night we had all went to a pool party at the team's hotel. I had to make a similar decision when it came to basketball or running track my sophomore year, and I decided to stop playing basketball, which was a controversial decision to say the least. There's no easy way to make these kinds of decisions; everyone wants to tell you what you should do, and your opinion is often fluctuating. My advice to you would be this; do what you feel like you'll have the most fun doing. This should be the bottom line. Being on the track team last year, I know how talented of a runner you are, but I also know that running for anyone other than yourself is not worth it.
ReplyDeleteI have also had to decide between running and soccer. I ran cross country subbie year because soccer was not an option, and had so much fun that I ran for two more years even though it meant I couldn't play soccer at Uni. I realized how much I had come to miss playing soccer, so this year I made the decision to forgo cross country for soccer. I am happy with my choice, but did find myself missing cross country. I hope that you are happy with whichever option you go with.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your opportunity - I always say that with the passion I now have for soccer, one of my biggest regrets is that I wasn't out there swarming the plastic ball at 4, and joining IFC at 8. I feel like it would have helped me be much better at the game that I have such a strong love for. However, I hope you end up doing track with me next semester - I promise we'll have a blast! If you don't? I'll still come to your club soccer games :)
ReplyDeleteI have been playing soccer for the majority of my life just like you. Just like you I also ran cross country during middle school, but unlike you I wasn't amazing and hated just running. To me soccer is more of a game and not a chore like running. But since you are so good at track I personally think you should try to run track this spring and focus on your best time. Interesting Post
ReplyDeletedo track
ReplyDelete(jk do what makes you happy)
DeleteI have been playing soccer since before I was in America. Granted it wasn't organized or anything (Basically just me kicking the ball while my foster family watched) but I have always held a deep passionate feeling for it. I never considered any other sport other then soccer. That being said I did play other sports (XC, basketball, and tennis) but if i had to choose between them I would choose soccer every time. I played for IFC (known as LISC) when i was 9 and 10 but went back to park district after those two years. I didn't travel with the team because my mother wouldn't let me but i played in the fall and spring cup. When I went back to UPD I felt a tiny bit of sadness because i wasn't going to play in the cups but also extremely happy because i was playing all the the time. If I were you I would continue to play soccer, enjoy the car trips with Rahi, Omeed, & Daniel. Do the thing you love and will always put a smile on your face.
ReplyDelete