About three weeks ago was my first outdoor soccer practice this season. It was on a Thursday and, according to our coach, Becky Stucki, we needed to be registered by Monday. At this point we only had 9 or 10 players, to field a decent team (considering injuries and schedules and such) you need around 15-17.
"Please," my coach said, "ask anyone you know who has any soccer experience to come play. If we don't have enough guys by Monday, we don't have a team."
So we did.
We asked everyone. And, come Monday, we had plenty of guys. As the last couple weeks have gone by, we've gotten more and more guys. We are now up to 20 players. Let me rephrase that: We are now up to WAY TOO MANY players. We have 5 wings, at least 4 forwards, at least 4 center midfielders (my position), at least 6 defenders…IT'S CRAZY.
Most of you will recall my horrible experience last spring season. Horrible. Terrible. Infuriating. Frustrating. Awful. Crappy. Demoralizing. If you don't know details, let me just say this. I didn't get much playing time. Actually, I got barely any playing time. And I played well, better than a lot of the players on my team.
We had a practice game today, in which I started and got a decent amount of playing time. At the end Becky sat us down and explained the situation. At one point she said,
"Now that we have this many players, I have the luxury of sitting you on the bench unless you show me you can play."
A previously dormant beast suddenly opened its eyes and growled softly inside of me.
"I did show her that I can play," I thought, "last season, during the off-season, right now...you have nothing to worry about Josh. Just play the game like you know how to."
The beast settled down, but stayed awake and sits apprehensively inside me now. If I don't get playing time, I don't know what I'm going to do. All I can do is play my best. But if there are suddenly several angry/venting posts on this blog -heaven forbid- please be prepared for emotion to jump out of the computer and latch on to your face, because it won't be nice.
In the meantime, I guess I'll just play soccer in my spare time to prepare for the season...oh wait...I DON'T HAVE SPARE TIME! I'm taking the ACT test (just for practice and experience) on April 12. I'm taking the AP Euro Exam on May 9 (oh my flippin' crap) I have books to read for english, biology assignments to do, precal to study, money to make, and percussion rehearsals to attend. My life is nuts. Plus, The Office is coming back on soon, so I'll have another obligation on Thursday nights. Did I mention that water-skiing is starting soon?
Oh yeah, I have a chronic illness to monitor. Sorry, I forgot about that one. (Wow, now it just sounds like I'm trying to get sympathy, sorry about that.)
Well, if life isn't hard, it's not worth livin'. Just remember that.
3 comments:
wowzers josh. i really hope that you can do awesome and get playing time, or else i'll have to drive up there and give your coach a little talking to. about your time issues....well i have those to, you just got to work hard and try your best to just get through it. just remember, you're a teenager, this is how life is!
Best of luck Josh. The ACT, AP Euro, soccer, and d. all of the above. Also, the Office is an obligation that is high on the priority list. Don't let the other things get in the way! :)
Shnikeys! I feel your pain! Don't stress about the ACT, it's not that much harder than your regular stuff at school. Just watch the time close and don't panic. And don't rush. And remember the trig rules (or just guess on those like I did). And read the questions twice. And remember the parts of speech. And do the easiest science section first. And don't let anything I just said stress you out more, you'll do awesome!!
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