Our Game Magazine asked its readers to write an essay about what soccer has done for them. As a result of her awesome essay, Danielle Colson is now the proud owner of two Washington Spirit season passes. Congratulations Danielle and we hope you enjoy the season!
This giveaway was generously sponsored by @Deegley. We thank @Deegley for her long-time support of women’s soccer and Our Game Magazine.
Soccer Changed My Life
by Danielle Colson
I was never good at being social, even as a young kid. I was that kid that always sat alone and knew a few people, but was never really close with anyone. Soccer changed that for me. My parents put me into recreational soccer when I was about five because I loved the sport so much and I always wanted to play in the backyard, but they didn’t have much time to play soccer with me due to their long work hours. I was extremely happy to actually have a team to play with all the time. I was still pretty shy, but after we started playing the other kids saw how good I was and would come talk to me. That season I met someone who would soon become my very best friend. We ended up playing on the same team together every year and we became even closer friends.
I was always happiest on the field running around with a soccer ball at my feet. All I looked forward to in school was soccer season. All I would think about in class would be something along the lines of “I have to get good grades in here so I can play soccer when it comes around.” It was literally always on my mind. When I got to middle school I was upset because they had a school rule that a student can’t play sports in sixth grade and they would have to wait until they get to seventh grade. I was pretty mad, but I figured the year would go by fast. When seventh grade tryouts finally came around I was thrilled to finally get back to being able to play. After tryouts ended you would know if you made the team or not from the rosters they would post around the school. I was not on the roster. I was devastated and thought I did so much better than most of the people during tryouts. I was so upset that I actually went into a bad stage in my life and became depressed. Years later I ran into the coach and he asked why I never came back, I told him that I wasn’t chosen to play, and he said it must have been a mix up because I was the best player out there.
In high school I couldn’t play my freshman and sophomore year due to injury, which deepened my depression and I started hanging out with the bad kids. Junior and senior year I could play again and to no surprise as soon as I started playing again my life straightened out. And to this day I have met all of my good friends through soccer. If it weren’t for the beautiful sport I would still be that sad, lonely kid I used to be. I truly believe that if I didn’t have soccer in my life I would probably be dead or in prison.