JV Try Outs

After making the traveling team Sophia set her eyes on a new goal, making the high school junior varsity team while she was still in middle school. In her district, if you were in eighth grade you were eligible to try out for the JV team. She really hoped to make this team but she had her doubts.

She was very intimidated by the high school girls that she knew were going to be at try outs. The big day came and after school Sophia got on the bus. On the way over to the high school she did all of her pre game rituals; yes she treated this like a game. She had retired the bandana once she made her travel team because it wasn’t cool anymore. Instead she got out her portable CD player and pumped her warm up music. She slid her shin guards in her socks and wrapped her laces around her shoes twice.

Nothing was going to stop her.

When she arrived at the high school field she absorbed the smell of the spring sir and newly mowed grass. She drowned out her nerves with the excitement a soccer field brought her; a new chance to show off, she thought. She sat in the bleachers like all of the other girls awaiting the coaches’ instruction. For the first half of try outs the girls did not touch a ball. First they stretched. After stretching was Sophia’s least favorite part, a three-mile run. She could run back and forth all day but it had no meaning if she didn’t have a ball at her feet, but she gave it her all. She finished some where in the middle of the first group.

Drills were next, which she always did well at, but there were so many sets of twos that the coaches couldn’t stay focused on any one player for any good amount of time. This made it very hard to be seen. The headers, passing, pivoting and dribbling drills were all a precursor to small scrimmages. This was Sophia’s favorite part. She did very well in game play and the coaches could truly see her abilities. This time they were only in two groups.

She wowed them.

She made the right passes and even scored on the varsity goalie. When she played defense she only let one ball past her and never allowed her man to score a goal. She played aggressively and never got winded. At the end of try outs the coaches thanked all of the players for coming out and told us that the teams would be posted on his door and on the middle school coach’s door tomorrow morning.

Sophia walked off the field feeling very good about her performance. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow. She barely slept. She tossed and turned all night. And when she finally did fall asleep she had a nightmare that her name wasn’t on the list. She got up early the next morning and when she got to school rushed over to the coaches’ office and ran her finger down the JV list until she hit Sophia!

She made it!

After a few practices with the JV team they were set to host their first game. Sophia was starting. She played offence and dominated. Not just the first game but everyone that follow as well. The whole season was hers. She scored a total of 28 goals, eight coming in one game, and only losing one by 1-0. She received the Most Valuable Player award at the banquet and could not have walked away from that season more elated.

Her next mission: varsity.