The Fatal Lesson

The day after Sophia’s senior year tryouts she walked down the hall to her coach’s door. For the first time there wasn’t an ounce of nerves. Her name was clearly at the top but there was something she found interesting; two freshman names were on the list. Sophia was really excited, she thought these two girls deserved to be on varsity but never thought her coach would give them a chance.  After telling them congratulations in the hall way she returned her focus to the first practice and the captains vote coming up. She knew she had proved herself to all of the returning varsity players but she needed to prove herself to the new girls.

During their first practice Sophia was sure to help all of the younger girls and encourage the skills they already had while teaching them anything they wanted to know. She felt confident and nervous as they all filed into her coaches office after practice was over. It was time for the vote. They were all handed a piece of paper and were told to write down one of their teammates names that they felt exuded the qualities needed to lead their team. They all turned them in and went home for the night. Sophia was tormented by having to wait a night for the results. The next day she went to school and could not think about anything but the vote. She looked at the clock in every class just waiting for the final bell to ring at 3:25. When it did she raced to get changed and ran out to the field. After the pre-practice team meeting, her coach made the big announcement.

Sophia was captain.

Most of her teammates were very excited but none more than Sophia. She worked very hard to uplift her team and be there for everyone. She was never more gratified than one time before a big game when the two freshmen, Kathryn and Meredith came and sat next to her. They wanted to say that they were so happy that she was their captain. They also confessed that they used to be scared of her because of her intensity. Sophia was shocked. They were scared of her on the field but quickly realized that she was a sweet and nurturing person that just loved to win. They loved her ‘go hard or go home’ attitude and really looked up to her.

Sophia loved that she had made an impact on them while also making them feel welcome. She prided herself on being able to bring her team together and welcoming everyone no matter their skill level, age, or personality. She loved the feeling of having a family on the field because it truly made for a more trustworthy and unified style of play. The team was doing really well and the first half of the season was coming to an end which meant spring break was close at hand. Sophia loved soccer but she also needed a break every once in a while and was looking forward to the down time. The day before they got out for spring break she told her team at practice that they should have fun, be careful, and at least touch a ball once every day so they didn’t come back rusty.

But the first day of spring break turned dark, quickly. 

Sophia was at home getting ready to leave for the beach the next morning when she got a call from a friend saying a red car with her high school soccer bumper sticker was wrapped around a telephone pole outside of her house. She made a few phone calls only to get varying news. She finally found out that one of the girls on the soccer team had been in a horrific accident with three other people in the car. Shortly after that she found out that one of the freshmen, Kathryn, was driving the car. The condition of most of the girls was grim, one walked away fine but the three others were at the hospital in critical condition. Sophia was shocked, devastated and scared. She cried in her father’s lap like she was four years old again. She didn’t understand how something so horrible could be happening to such an amazingly sweet young lady.

As the hours passed she kept getting updates from a friend of Kathryn’s family. The condition of the other two girls upgraded to serious. One had a broken femur and was in a medically induced coma. The other had a broken neck, although not paralyzed, was being placed into a “halo.” Kathryn though, was not breathing on her own and still in very serious condition. A day passed with only some change. The girl with the broken neck was now in stable condition and the girl in a coma was scheduled to be taken out of it later that day. Kathryn was still on life support.

Meanwhile Sophia was at the beach, waiting by her phone.

The girl taken out of the coma was now in stable condition but they were taking Kathryn, this sweet freshman girl off life support. Sophia again cried in her dad’s lap and said through tears, “life support is over-rated! She will live, she has to.” But about thirty minutes later, Sophia got the phone call that Kathryn was in fact dead. The rest of Sophia’s spring break was horrible. She was constantly looking up at the sky and the stars as if she would see something, a sign, anything. There was nothing. She had so many things running through her mind; she didn’t even know where to begin. Once spring break finally came to an end she was glad to be home but she knew that Monday at school was going to be rough.

As she walked into school Monday morning she went straight to her coach’s classroom and cried. He told her she didn’t have to go to class and she could meet outside at a big tree in the front where there were plenty of grief counselors waiting for her and all of the other students at her school. Outside were all of Kathryn and the girls’ friends, crying. She was talking to them and the counselors when she realized it was almost time for practice. She didn’t know if she had it in her but she knew the team needed her now more than ever.

As she made her way to the field she noticed there was not one dry eye among her teammates. The other freshman sat right next to Sophia holding her tightly. Her coach started by saying he had never been through anything like this and was in as terrible of a place as the rest of them. He then asked if we wanted to even have practice. But with the moral as it was Sophia knew it was not a good idea to leave each other. So she thought quickly and told her teammates before they went they needed to tell any good memory they had of Kathryn and the other freshman said quickly, to Sophia’s surprise, “I’ll start.” After she told a funny story another teammate chimed in and soon all of the tears turned into laughter and smiles. The coach then said “okay, let’s have practice and just play fun games.” So for the rest of the afternoon the girls had the best practice they had ever had and left feeling so much better than any of them could have ever imagined.

Later that week the team made shirts for Kathryn with her picture on the front and her number “2” on the back. They wore them as their warm up shirts of the next game and every game that followed. The first game back they played a team they weren’t supposed to beat. When they got to the field they were all in tears. They dedicated that game to her. Their team ended up winning 2-0. Not one girl didn’t have chills and know that Kathryn was there helping them score that magic “2”. There weren’t any smiles after the win and it was a quiet bus ride home but everyone felt good knowing she had never really left their side.

The rest of the season was tough and Sophia never made it to state but she learned the most valuable lesson she had learned to date; there are bigger, more important things in life. Sophia went on to be recruited by colleges, went on official visits, and practiced with college teams but she just burnt out. She chose to go to a bigger school and see what more there was to life but she would never forget all of the amazing things soccer had taught her and she never lost her love for the game.

The Run Cut Short

It was that special time of year. Sophia’s stomach was in butterflies. The latter half of the previous season went well for her so she was less nervous than usual. Her back was finally at full strength but her coach sat her out of the three mile run portion of try outs this year just in case. She found this odd since she felt fine but she wasn’t about to start complaining.

She didn’t have to run. This was a telltale sign that the coach already knew what Sophia could do and he didn’t need to see it. It was almost as if she had already made the team. The rest of tryouts flowed easily and by the end Sophia knew that her name would be on the varsity list, again. The next morning her name read bright and clear at the top of the piece of paper on her coach’s door.

Next, she started planning her goals for the season. This year she was more determined than ever. How she played would be the deciding factor of whether she would be captain the following year. As much as she was a team player, she wasn’t always going to be nice like she had in the past. She wanted to elevate her team to a new level. To do this she had to gain the respect of everyone, even the seniors. She also wanted to play more mid-field so that she could be the one creating more of the opportunities.

She wanted to be the key element.

The season started out well. Sophia was not only playing, she was starting. She had more confidence than she had ever had before and it showed. She was very vocal, lifting her teammates up when they were down. Even her style of play had changed; she took risks with the ball that she had never taken before. She was using the soccer field much like a canvas, creating what she loved; to win.

They faced a tough schedule this year full of games against top opponents. But her team seemed to really step up to the challenge by winning most of their games against teams ranked higher than them. Sophia knew they really had a chance to make the state tournament when they almost beat one of the top five teams. Sophia’s team was winning for most of the game until the last two minutes when the other team barely came back. The game ended in a two-two tie.

They could now taste state.

While Sophia didn’t score in that game, she walked away very proud that she assisted both goals. Her greatest achievement was catching the eye of the opposing coach. After the game he walked up to Sophia and told her that she was a great player with a lot of potential. His word meant a lot to Sophia because he was a well-known coach of a private school where they allowed recruiting from other areas in Georgia.

As the season went on Sophia began to be looked at by college scouts and was even asked to join a new travel team. Sophia was so excited; college scouts were beginning to come to her Saturday practices. While she was excited about this her focus was still on her high school season. There was a big game coming up. They were playing a team in their region that was very good, beatable, but good. The winner of this game would go to the state tournament.

The week before the big game Sophia faced an unexpected challenge; she came down with the flu. She was throwing up and very sick. She missed a week of practice but did everything she could to speed up her recovery. When the day of the game came she felt much better but was not 100 percent. Although her coach did not start her he put her in soon after the game got under way. She surprised herself by playing well and to her full ability.

But her team got behind.

Sophia was very confident that they could come back from a 2-1 deficit and began creating many opportunities, but they just weren’t turning into goals. She was fighting harder than she had ever fought, never wanting anything more. What happened next shocked everyone. The ball went out of bounds and the whistle blew. Her teammate came out on to the field and said “Sophia, you’re out.” Sophia stopped, looked at her coach and just stared. She thought it must be a mistake, but he motioned for her to come to the bench.

When she got to the bench she yelled, “WHY??? I’m fine.” Her coach replied with a parental, “I don’t want to push you.” He obviously didn’t realize her dedication. She was furious. She looked up at her dad in the stands and he knew exactly what she was thinking. Her coach kept her on the bench for the rest of the game. Sophia sat in agonizing pain watching her team as they lost the opportunity to go to the state tournament.

She was going to walk off the field without shaking hands but when she saw the look on her dads face she knew she had to turn around and do the right thing. After that was over she ran to the parking lot and sobbed. She said a few ‘not so nice’ things about her coach to her dad as he did his best to calm her down.

But Sophia had never been so mad in her life.

That was the end of the season. The only thing left was the end of the year team banquet. Sophia didn’t want to go to the banquet but she knew if she had hopes of becoming captain next year it would be best for her to put her anger aside and attend like a leader should. As her coach was giving out awards, she just knew she would be the most valuable player. When her name wasn’t called she sat silent and angry. She knew exactly why she didn’t receive it, because she was going to get the most honorable award instead, the coach’s award. Sure enough her coach said the most amazing things about her and announced that she was the glue that held the team together on and off the field.

Her father looked at her and said “if he only knew the things you said about him after that game.” And then they exchanged a smiled as she graciously walked up accept her award. Now it was time to put that season behind her. She had to turn her focus to making captain. Leading was in her blood and besides making state it was the last goal she set for her high school soccer career.