Road To First Place

Road To First Place

For as long as I can remember I have been playing soccer. I have been on many teams and made many friends throughout my career. My first team that I ever played for was Empire Soccer Academy at about age 5. There I learned how to play the sport and became better. We hosted many tournaments and never won any of them, the only thing I received was participation medals. I didn't mind though because at that age all I wanted to do was play.

At the start of my soccer career it was never about the trophies but as I progressed and got older I started to feel the desire to win. After being at Empire for  a good 7 years, I left because I knew I wouldn't achieve anything there, So I joined Club Atletico de Miami. My first year there we almost won some tournaments but always got eliminated in the Semi-finals, and as the years went by the team just got worse and worse. After spending 4 Years at CAM, I decided to leave to Pinecrest Premier.

I honestly believed that Pinecrest Premier was going to help me achieve that first place medal. Looking at our team, you would think so too because we had some of the best players in Miami. We joined one of the hardest leagues in Miami thinking that we would win the title but we got completely destroyed. Our only chance now was one of the tournaments that we planned to attend. We got all the way to the final but lost in penalties. After that, our season was over and most of us decided to leave.

Getting older I feared that I would never be able to obtain my first place medal. It was going to be my last year playing club soccer so I had to choose wisely which team to join and I went with Cutler Ridge Soccer. Playing our first game I easily could tell that this was the team to make my dream come true. Our first tournament that we played we won. We completely destroyed the competition and I finally got my first place medal that I have been chasing my whole life.

I won many medals of participation in my life and not once was I happy about it. Maybe when I was little but that doesn't count. Anyways winning that first place trophy made me happy and relieved. I could now retire in peace knowing that I finally won a first place medal and I have my team in Cutler Ridge to thank for that. We even won another tournament after that, so I guess its safe to say that I chose wisely with Cutler Ridge Soccer.

Highschool Soccer

High School Soccer

Since my freshman year I have been on the Palmetto varsity soccer team. Being the only surviving freshman wasn't an easy task, but through hard work I was able to make the team four years in a row. Palmetto boys soccer has never had a really good team, and the last time that the boys were district champs was in 1997. This year was going to be the year that we made history. Having the best team that I ever saw in my years of high school, we all thought that we were going to win.

We started the season by beating last year's district champs and after that day all we did was win. In order to be the best, you have to practice hard and that is exactly what we did. We practiced every day and got better and better. Even though we worked hard, that doesn't mean that we didn't have fun along the way. practice was often filled with jokes and laughter. Even though our practice was filled with banter, we always knew when it was okay to joke around and when we needed to get serious. It wasn't until the end of the season where we started losing, but we still managed to finish 2nd in the league. The day of our district semi-final was nerve racking because we knew that we won the next two games, our goal would have been achieved. Sadly we lost 3-1 against Varela, and our hearts were broken.

Even though we had a great season, we didn't manage to achieve our goal to make palmetto history. For the seniors that were on the team, the loss hit us harder. Our last chance to win districts was gone. Many of us teared up and got emotional, but in the end we did what we could and gave it our all that game. We are all happy to have been on the team this year and I don't think anyone is going to forget what we did this year. I think everyone is proud to be a Panther, I know I am.