Soccer Through School

by Jure

Ever since arriving in middle school I have changed. Most of the change I owe to the world’s favorite sport, soccer. When I first got to this school I played on a local recreational team (class 4), had no game and was pretty much a loser. Since then in 6th grade I have grown so much that I now play on a class 1 traveling soccer club known as Bay Oaks United ‘95.

My first year at Claremont (6th grade), looking back on it, I can safely rip on myself in several ways. For example, I was a sucker for grades, I couldn’t get a new friend if I tried and… I’m going to stop there. My soccer team (rec) was terrible, yet I was the star player so I felt somewhat good about it. It was easy enough to realize that I had no chance for advancement on the team. None of the kids took the sport seriously or had the urge and determination to win, not to mention no coaches looking for star players looked in terrible leagues like this. I knew my options and they were Bay Oaks or Rockridge Sting.

I decided to go for Sting. Sting was a small step up from my recreational team because to make the team you had to try out. The team was great for a short period; I was playing great and continuing to rise to the top of the team. However after a while, the team started to get old for one key reason: my coach was getting annoying. He would always take me and other key players out in important situations in the game. So after losing one game where we could have come extremely close to winning I decided right then and there to go to the highest level, Bay Oaks.
That was 7th grade, which was a great year for me. It was when I first realized how to not sound like a total geek/loser. School stayed the same for me, I just got less grade crazy. I was starting to realize that I had a passion for the sport.

I knew that Bay Oaks would be one of the hardest teams to make. It was one of the best teams around and since it was my first time trying out I had no idea what to expect. When I got there, there were tons of scouts all hired to scout us. I was shocked at how we were getting judged by scouts that I was told judged professional teams. After three long tryouts sessions I made the team. I was going to be a player on Bay Oaks United and I couldn’t be happier.

Today my life couldn’t be better. After winning two out of three games in a tournament in LA and still on a two game winning streak I looked back and realized that I had played every minute of every game, I was never subbed out once. I was starting all my games and playing great. At school, life was easy. I never had anything to complain about and I was growing in my skill, love, and passion for the game and in life.