My team won a tournament two years ago. This was a big event in my life and had a big impact on me because it was in New York. It was the end of November. It was going to be one of the coldest tournaments that I had ever played in. It was snowing and yet the whole team persevered in the snow to play the game that everyone on the team loves. Soccer is a fall sport for a reason. For example, soccer is played in shorts and a t-shirt, we are meant to zigzag down the field, not bound over mounds of snow.
For each tournament there were three games and a final or consolation, taking place over two days. We battled hard for the first day, and won both games. It was warmer on November 23rd, but that didn’t mean anything. The team knew the game was going to be rough both mentally and physically. By the time Sunday came around, the games had gotten tougher. The first game ended in a tie. Our placement in the finals depended on the success or failures of the other teams. We waited hours for the results. Everyone was cold and anxious. We wanted to know if we had to go home or if we could stay and fight for the chance to play in the finals. After patiently waiting for two hours, we finally knew. Even through the cold and the long weekend, we had made it into the finals. The finals took place late afternoon on Sunday, November 24th. This was a big moment for our team because it would be the last big tournament. Our team had decided to split up before the spring season. It was official that this would be the last tournament we played.
It was difficult mentally because we had to fight through the fact that we were the underdogs. When the whole crowd is cheering against you, it makes it hard to play. When everyone at the game expects you to lose, it makes it hard to play. During the game it was a constant battle. If someone on the field stopped moving for just a second, the other team would get the advantage. Playing in the snow made it hard to run, hard to see, and hard to handle the ball. The game had to be all passing. If anyone on the team tried to dribble the ball, the mounds of snow on the ground would stop her. There could be no one taking it for them because of the amount of snow. The ball became uncontrollable. Yet, it did not matter how many there were. All that mattered was who ended up with the most when the final whistle blew. We played one of the top teams in New York. We were not the favored team. We were the underdogs. When we won everyone was proud of us. We had persevered through what might be the toughest game yet. We felt every emotion that could have been felt but we were mostly proud of each other and of ourselves.  In the end, we won the tournament and won the final game with a score of three to two.
This was one of the hardest times that I have gone through. I had to persevere. That tournament was the biggest challenge that I have ever faced. Even though Santiago’s arm wrestling match was alone, it did take two days and it did take an extreme amount of both physical strength and mental strength. The team and I worked harder than we had ever worked. It was one of the hardest weekends of my life but that did not mean that it was time to give up. We knew that this was one of the most crucial times that we had to overcome the obstacles. When we won the game, a number of emotions rushed over us. Even though so many emotions went through us, only one stood out: pride.