Life After Soccer

Life after soccer has definitely been different. It’s been sad and lonely because sometimes I feel like I don’t know what to do with myself with all of this new free time. Now I have gotten a part time job and I work a lot, but I miss soccer and my team so much. The season gave me such a good feeling and I had so much fun and I’m really upset now that it’s over. I’m thankful to be able to keep in touch with my teammates and coaches and it was a great experience to be able to meet, work, and get to know every single one of them. I am very lucky for this and am very happy!

The Game That Decides Regionals

This was a very important game for us against Rockville MC. Rockville have been our rivals for years and this was the game we had to prove ourselves and play our hardest. This game is what we worked all season for and it was very important. This game was our last real game of the season and it decided which team of ours would go to regionals. During this game, our injured players got doctors notes so that they would be able to play this one last game. Everyone gave it their all this game and played their hearts out. During the first half on of our injured players, Stephanie Zaycer scored a long shot from far left field. We kept the score 1-0 the whole first half HCC with the win. In the second half, Rockville tied 1-1. Both teams played there hardest and with 20 minutes left, Rockville scored again. This made the game 2-1 Rockville. HCC did not give up and we still played our hardest. In the last 20 seconds of the game, Sophomore Kristen Williford got hurt and was out of the game. The last 20 seconds were very important for us because we played for ourselves, our teammates, our coaches, and for our sophomores who were playing their absolute last soccer game. After them game even though we lost, we were very happy with ourselves for not giving up and for playing with heart. We celebrated the season and for the memories that the season brought to us and it was a very special memorable day. We were upset that we did not make it to regionals, but having fun was what the season was about and that’s what we cared about and celebrated.

Our Last Real Soccer Practice

This was a very sad day for all of us because if we did not win our game the next day during Rockville, it would officially be out last practice. It was weird thinking about it because we have been doing the same routine for over 2 months now and it would be unreal to think that it could just all be over. We spent most of the practice jogging and doing some skill training but that was it. Afterwards we could decide if we wanted to stay and hang around of go. Some hung around and shot a couple balls in the net and practiced but that was it. It was up to us now to win our last game and make it go past that.

Our First Win

Becoming a new team and starting all new players, it was hard to find the chemistry between the team. Finding chemistry between a team takes time and for our team, it definitely took time. Since some players like me had not played soccer in a long time, it took a while to learn skill and learn the rules of the game. After a while however, our team started working better and better together and that’s what got us our first win vs. Frederick Community College. It’s kind of ironic, because the day before our game we had an indoor practice based only on fitness. This made out players completely sore and really unable to move our legs. Somehow though it pulled off and got us our first win with a score 5-1. This was a great change for our team and definitely brought our hopes up, which we needed.

Games

This season we had about 5 home games, and 3 of them were tournaments held at HCC over the weekends. It was upsetting because with weekend games it’s harder to get fans to come and watch, while if we had games during the week fans could just come out to the fields after their classes were over. Also, with the amount of traveling we did in a week, week after week, it made the players and myself very tired and it was hard to get off of a bus after an hour or two and go straight to playing and running a 90 minute game. Also, with some miss scheduling, our games could get postponed or even pushed back a couple hours, which would effect the time we had to do our homework.

School Starting

Once school started, practices were later in the day and at 3pm. It took a little while getting used to that because during pre-season, practice would be at 6pm and night and during 2-a-days, practices would be at 8am and 6pm. It was hard during the 2-a-days because I was working a full time job and my hours were 10am to 530pm. That means I would have to wake up at 630am for 8am practice, then go straight to work from 10-530, and straight back for 6pm practice for 5 days a week. This was very exhausting, but worth it. Once school started it took practice to be able to balance schoolwork and soccer practice as well as spend time with friends and family and get a good amount of sleep. 

First Trip as a Team

The first trip we took as a team was to Wilmington, North Carolina the first weekend school had started which was September 2nd 3rd and 4th. The previous weeks leading up to our first trip consist of preseason which is practice and 2-a-days. 2-a-days were where practices were held at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. 5 days of the week and involved a lot of fitness. After that there were consistent practices every week evening that led up to this trip. This trip is a great way for the team to get to know each other better and to be able to connect as well as get away from home. During this trip rooms usually consist of 3-4 players per room and we get a lot of team bonding time which is a great experience. We also have 2 games which are considered our first real games of the season and games playing together as a team. Even though we have had past scrimmages, these games are our first kind of real games. Even though we lost to both North Carolina teams which were really good, it helped to show us as well as our coaches what our strong and weak spots were and helped to move on from there. Our team was able to spend a lot of time together during this trip and it was a great experience to be able to go through and spending time with coaches and teammates outside of school and practice was a really nice change.