Everyone was convinced I would never be good enough, that I was dragging the team down. They were positive of this because coach put me on defense. They convinced me that even Coach didn’t think I was good.

In February of 2010 I ventured into a land of unknown. I went where no girl in my family had ever gone before, the Football Field. The field was amazing. The scent of cut grass filled the air, and you could see that the groundskeepers had just marked the each yard of the field. I had always enjoyed watching football with my family and playing it with my friends at the park. In February, the girls Varsity Flag Football team started conditioning and I decided to try something new.

I was excited to be out on the field, but practice was difficult. I fell behind the other girls quickly and I hated that. All the other girls were athletes. They were soccer players, track stars, returning football girls, and even some of the softball team. I on the other hand was on the Great Debate and Mock Trial team. After three weeks of brutal conditioning I wanted to quit. I even started to think that would be best for the team. When we would run a mile, I would slowly ease away from the team. I almost always ended up in a half walk, half jog. When it came to running suicides, I was last to finish every time. And because I was the slowest, sprinters embarrassed me.

When we would practice our patterns and catching I instantly remembered why I could not give up. I remembered why I originally went out for the team. I remembered my love for the game. By the end of February though, I was exhausted and in constant pain. One person kept me going, kept me on the team, stopped me from making one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Alyssa had been a friend of mine since I was a freshman. She was one grade above me, and chose me to run with during this one practice. She saw me starting to struggle, and talked to me. “Come on, we’re almost there! You’ve been doing great so far, so don’t show a weakness that doesn’t exist!”

I remember that day like it was yesterday because it was the first time one of my team members told me “yes you can.” At that point Coach Vincent had started assigning positions. I was on defense, not even as a starter. Many of my teammates told me that was given to the bad players. That the best were placed on offense and second best on defense, but only if they are starting. This infuriated me! At that moment that I remembered Alyssa’s words “don’t show a weakness that doesn’t exist.” After that I started practicing in my spare time, running a mile daily, catching the ball, and cutting my patterns. Soon I trailed right behind our captains, never slowing down or stopping. I started finishing my suicides third instead of sixth and when it came to sprints I was no longer embarrassed. My patterns were sharp and I caught what the quarterback threw.

All my hard work did not go unnoticed either. First was the quarterback,
Cayleigh. She told me I was improving and she was proud of me. After that the running back, Taylor told me she was impressed. Finally Coach Vincent saw my improvement. By game number four I was taken off defense. I had been placed on offense, as a starter!