Memo #1 Writing from a different point view

Writing from a different point of view

From a 12 years old soccer player.

It is Thursday and as usual, my class did not end until 3 pm. I took the bus from school to home and my mom already has all my soccer gear and snacks ready for me. There is not a lot of time to spend at home. Every day I have soccer practice the drive is long and we always hit traffic which makes mom very upset and nervous sometimes. At least I can do all my homework in the car, and I honestly look forward to practice to see all my friends and coach.

My practices are usually 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm but coach Skeff ask us to get there 30 minutes earlier to make the practice more productive. Getting there by 6 is so hard for my parents and if I am late I usually get upset at them. I just really do not like to be late and feel I am behind. Everybody is there working really hard and I should be there too.

On Thursdays, we have our juggling test. Coach Skeff loves juggling tests and I get so nervous. Right now I am looking at the field and I am starting to watch all my teammates getting their bags out of their mom’s car. It is so funny how big our bags are compared to us. I hope my mom did not forget anything, how embarrassing is when my mom forgets to pack my cleats or soccer ball.

I see my best friend leaving her dad’s car. Her dad is literally the nicest dad ever. He is the team manager of the team but he is always positive and he brings snacks after the games. My best friend’s dad is always talking to coach Skeff. I feel they always know what is going on and always have some plan for us. He tries to be super nice to us when she is having a hard time to coach us. Sometimes though, I do not enjoy having him around because he is my best friend’s dad and I do not have my dad on the bench during the games.

I am on my dominant foot for juggling test. I feel I am never going to pass. Although I know this is helping me with my soccer skills and coach Skeff keep remind us why sometimes I get tired of doing it. I have not passed my record for the last two weeks so I feel super nervous to do it today. It is cold outside, enough that I cannot feel my toes. How am I supposed to juggle if I do not feel my toes? Why are we still training outside? I just do not believe we should train outside during the winter. Now I know what my mom forgot to pack for me: my under armor second skin.

Talking about coach Skeff, where is she? She is usually super early setting the session but I do not see her. I love to get in the field and see all her cones set up and trying to figure out what we are going to do during the session. Sometimes my friends and I make bets to see who guess right. Today I only see the team manager watching the girls. 6:20 and she is already 20 minutes late. I just remember, today is Thursday and she has school so she can only get here exactly at 6:30. On Thursday she seems stressed because she is not here before us.

I see her come, and I am so happy she is here. I was already losing my focus during the juggling enough that I could only think about the cold. Every time she comes late she is always upset for our lack of focus in the job we are supposed to do. I tried to isolate myself and not chat with the other girls but when she is not here is so hard. Everything is hard right now honestly. Georgi just came to me and said she is going to pass the test and I feel no confidence to do the same. I really wish coach Skeff would come to us and give us some pep talk, but Thursdays she always seems very stressed and in rush. Look at her trying to set all the cones down. Is she still using her work clothes? She is so weird.

She says to bring in. She is smiling, thank goodness. I feel I never know if I am in trouble or doing a good job. She is so hard on us… But at the same time so nice. I do not know if I would push so hard to pass this juggling test if she was not hard to us. I feel she always knows how well we are doing and always asking all the girls. I hope she does not ask me because I have not done well so far. She actually just gives us some instructions on how to approach on number goal for the juggling. She calls 50-75-100 strategy. Let's see if this works.

I feel actually confident today for my juggling test. Coach Skeff used this strategy of trying to bet only 50% of our record, then 75% and then beat our record. Right now I am one of the feel ones that already beat 75% of the record. Coach Skeff also said that if we beat our record during practice we can have two tests opportunities. I hope I can test twice.
It is 6:45. It is time to test. I did not beat my record so I am very nervous to juggle in front of everybody. Why does she do this? Why do we need to perform this task in front of everybody? Look how awkward this is. The first person goes and she did not do well. I hope I do not suck and cry in front of everybody. Coach Skeff always says it is okay to fail and cry, but I do not think it is. My friends are going to laugh at me and now I feel so nervous.

It is my turn now.

-Look to other side and relax. Focus.

Coach Skeff said. I followed her instructions. Why is my heart beating so fast? I feel the whole world is watching me now. I feel I will fail. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.. Ops so wind. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17… I feel actually great. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59… I lost count! I just need to keep working, someone is counting for me. My right leg is starting to hurt and I can only use my right leg. Why does coach Skeff ask us to isolate the surface? I am sure she already explained to me, but right now it does not make any sense. Another wind… and I drop the ball. My teammates are clapping. I have no clue how much I got. “Great job!” Sienna said to me while she was walking to the middle of the field. It was her turn. How much did I get? I was wondering, but at the same time, I did not want to know because I do not want to be embarrassed about my number. “Congrats Gabi, you got 172. That is way past your record, right?”.

I cannot believe I had finally passed my test. Coach Skeff is coming to me and give me a hug. I had no clue how happy I would get if I passed my record. I just want to keep practicing and keep working until I pass the surface. “Bring in, girls,” said coach Skeff. “Who can tell me why do we do juggling test?”. I wanted to answer but I am still so happy from passing my test. “To be able to perform under pressure” explained Georgi. “Then we can have a goal every day and a number to measure our improvement,” said Emerson. These girls are so smart. I almost forgot about these reasons today, and it literally made totally sense for me. “Who did pass your record or pass the surface?”. I raise my hand. Only 3 girls passed their record this Thursday. We will only test again in two weeks.

I feel so excited about the juggling test. I cannot wait to go home and keep practicing until I beat my number again. I feel so confident now. I am looking to coach Skeff talking to all the other girls about setting new goals for their juggling. How does she do that? How does she always knows everybody’s number? Although today is Thursday she seems relaxed. Maybe we did well in the test. I honestly do not even remember how the other girls did, I was so surprised with my number.

“How did you do Colby?”

“Terrible” she replied to me.

“What about you Courtney”

“I did okay but did not beat my record,” she said.

Although I want my teammates to improve, I am so happy with my number. I cannot wait for the next activity. Sometimes I forget how exciting coach Skeff makes our practice. I wish we could practice more.


“Okay girls, bring in” I hear coach Skeff calling.