One Down, Three to Go

One of Varsity's seniors
against a Morgan defender.
Image courtesy of:
 Christopher Reeves/The Park Record

High school soccer season has come to an end, and Junior Varsity (JV) went undefeated!  Our last two games were not exactly our best (one was a tie), but we didn’t lose.  Also, a shout out to my bud, Emily, who scored a goal on her first time playing with JV!


Though Region is done, playoffs for State Championship have begun (click here for the bracket we're in).  Five JV players, including me, were asked to play up with Varsity during playoffs!  Before I go back to club soccer, I get two more weeks of the high school experience!  I am super excited!  During our first playoffs game, I got to play for ten minutes!  I know that doesn’t sound very impressive, but when you’re at the bottom of the pack, you take what you can get.  I played okay, though I wasn’t extremely happy with myself.  Anyway, we won that game 8-0, so now we move on to quarter finals.  Our next game is a two hour bus ride one away, but Coach has planned it so we can stop for restroom breaks and still have an hour to warm up before the game.

Varsity celebrating.
Image courtesy of:
The Salt Lake Tribune

Practicing with Varsity is also a nerve-racking experience.  Even though it’s not a game and there aren’t other people watching me, I still get timid, fearful and feel like everything I do isn’t quite good enough.  I am always looking for a way to prove myself, but alas, those moments are rare.  Whenever we scrimmage, my first touch is either bad or too slow and I can’t seem to position myself in the right places (the formation is different from JV).  One thing I work on with Varsity is quicker, firmer passes.

Fortunately, I’m decent at penalty kicks (PK) and my fitness is average.  At the end of every practice, the top ten PK shooters practice their shots.  One practice, the rest of us or non-PK takers had the opportunity to shoot as well.  I am proud to say that I have not yet missed a practice PK.  Although, there was the time I missed a PK in an actual game...I haven’t taken a game one since.  But that’s what practice is for, right?  Building up one’s skill and confidence.  On the topic of conditioning, we had a fitness practice the other day (no soccer balls, all running) where we did some exhausting relay sprints in groups of three.  My group, consisting of the youngest players on Varsity, came in the top three every time. :)