I guess I could say I'm an athlete. I guess I could say I'm a good athlete. I'm not bragging; I just love to play a lot of sports and I can honestly say that I'm not bad at many of them. My favorite though, by about 99% is SOCCER. (But I'm sure you knew that... just by looking at the title of this post)
I first started playing soccer in Holland, when I was about eight years old. My family had just moved there from the States. I had left all my friends behind. I had left my house behind. I had basically left my whole life - as I knew it - behind in the country I loved. I was not in a good mood, not at all. It felt like my whole world was falling apart, and my dad only made it worse by one day, saying: "Hey Helena, how'd you like to learn to play soccer? There's a local club here that you could play at." This was not a question wanting an answer, but a rhetorical question - I had no choice in the subject whatsoever. I argued and I whined and I pleaded - but to no avail. He signed me up for 'FC Assen' (the local soccer club he had mentioned earlier) that weekend. Now these days, I would be overjoyed if I could join a soccer club like FC Assen, but back then I was a lazy, chubby, unathletic kid who didn't want to 'waste' her time doing 'stupid' sports when she could be sitting on her lazy butt watching cartoons on t.v.
So when I first started playing soccer I HATED it. I had to wake up every Saturday morning at 7 AM so I could run around in the blazing sun, kicking a ball across a stupid field and being soaked in stinky sweat. It ruined every Saturday of my life.
And then, somehow, as I played soccer every week over the course of the year, I came to actually, sincerely enjoy it. I don't know how it happened, but over the weeks I played more and more. I played soccer at school with my friends, I spent Tuesdays and Thursdays practicing at FC Assen, I played at friend's houses, at parties and shot goals in my backyard when I was bored. The next thing I knew, I was watching soccer on t.v. and talking about it with friends at lunch. Soccer became a huge part of my life. I LOVED it. It was my favorite sport and I couldn't imagine life without it.
It was a funny change. I went from absolutley despising soccer, to loving it (and not being that bad either!) . So, I guess you could call me an athlete. I guess you could call me a good athlete.
I first started playing soccer in Holland, when I was about eight years old. My family had just moved there from the States. I had left all my friends behind. I had left my house behind. I had basically left my whole life - as I knew it - behind in the country I loved. I was not in a good mood, not at all. It felt like my whole world was falling apart, and my dad only made it worse by one day, saying: "Hey Helena, how'd you like to learn to play soccer? There's a local club here that you could play at." This was not a question wanting an answer, but a rhetorical question - I had no choice in the subject whatsoever. I argued and I whined and I pleaded - but to no avail. He signed me up for 'FC Assen' (the local soccer club he had mentioned earlier) that weekend. Now these days, I would be overjoyed if I could join a soccer club like FC Assen, but back then I was a lazy, chubby, unathletic kid who didn't want to 'waste' her time doing 'stupid' sports when she could be sitting on her lazy butt watching cartoons on t.v.
So when I first started playing soccer I HATED it. I had to wake up every Saturday morning at 7 AM so I could run around in the blazing sun, kicking a ball across a stupid field and being soaked in stinky sweat. It ruined every Saturday of my life.
And then, somehow, as I played soccer every week over the course of the year, I came to actually, sincerely enjoy it. I don't know how it happened, but over the weeks I played more and more. I played soccer at school with my friends, I spent Tuesdays and Thursdays practicing at FC Assen, I played at friend's houses, at parties and shot goals in my backyard when I was bored. The next thing I knew, I was watching soccer on t.v. and talking about it with friends at lunch. Soccer became a huge part of my life. I LOVED it. It was my favorite sport and I couldn't imagine life without it.
It was a funny change. I went from absolutley despising soccer, to loving it (and not being that bad either!) . So, I guess you could call me an athlete. I guess you could call me a good athlete.
