Team
Making the Team
by Taryn, age 13
When you play a sport you have to know how far you are willing to take it. Many people play for fun or because they need a way to stay fit. Others, however, play for the competition and the love of the sport. I like to compete, and even though it’s tough sometimes, I’m learning to be a stronger person.
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 At first, I was intimidated... But I knew I had to keep on trying. 
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One of my greatest accomplishments was making a competitive soccer team, the MP Strikers. Many of my friends had been playing on the Strikers team since as young as 2nd grade. But no matter how much I begged, my parents would not let me join the team because they were worried about the time that this would take away from our family.
Finally, during 6th grade, my parents gave in and allowed me to venture out from the non-competitive AYSO teams that I had been playing on for so long and try out for a competitive soccer team. When I got to the tryouts, I watched the other girls. At first, I was intimidated because some of girls had been playing on this team for many years. But I knew I had to keep on trying. I just told myself to keep a positive attitude and maybe, just maybe, I could achieve my goal. The actual try out was not that hard—there were a lot of soccer drills and other stuff I’d done before. I thought I had a pretty good chance of making the team. But still I told myself that even if I did not make the team I still won because I tried and that’s what counts.
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| Taryn chills out after soccer season |
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After tryouts that night, I waited for the phone to ring. Finally, the coach called and told me I had been offered a spot on the team. It was so exciting and I think I smiled for days!
In the end, this experience was so important. It showed me that if I try my hardest, even when other girls are better than me, my positive attitude will take me as far as I want to go.
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