By Aarti Singh ‘20
Unity is strength. Ever since I started playing soccer, I was always taught to trust my team and stand together no matter what. I was lucky and blessed to have a wonderful soccer team for my first year as a lumberjack. From the first practice session, we all had a dream, a common aspiration: to win New England’s. Every day as we stepped onto the soccer field, we knew what we needed to work on. Being the goalkeeper of the team, I could see the efforts that my team made to not let any balls come near my zone. As each of the ten players on the field and seven on the bench did their job, my job was to stop the balls from entering the net. I was always scared to not let my team down, but at the same time, I wanted them to trust me enough to not to worry about losing the game because of me.
The start of the soccer season was difficult for some of us. As there were many returning players, there were also many new players, just like me. It was hard to rely on someone we didn’t know. As Mr. Griggs and Ms. Milan gave their best in coaching the players , the seniors took the lead for prompting the team’s spirit and confidence. The hurdle of success started to seem a little less daunting when we won MAISADS. We were happy; we started to feel our dreams were coming true. The only thing now mattered was to play Vermont this quarterfinals, make our place in Semis and then bring the trophy home.
I still remember the last practice. We were happy to reach New England’s. Each one of us had the hunger of winning, because losing was not an option for us.
As we walked down the pathway of St Paul’s, I still remember the vibes and chills that I got from their huge turf field. Everyone was positive, trying to hide the fear of losing. When the whistle blew, the first two minutes of the game broke all of my dreams into millions of pieces. Soccer games usually go for 80 minutes, the first 40 minutes felt like a lifetime to me. As the Jacks were 2 down, we were shocked. We knew we didn’t come as a strong team at the start, but we still had plenty of time to come back. Being a goalkeeper is not easy, but the only thing my team expected from me was to be confident and fight back. During the half time, we all tried to pump each other up. We started having positive talks and were ready to play the best soccer of this season, even if it was our last. Our passes were accurate and so was everyone’s confidence. The ball was now rolling as per the green’s command. As each minute passed by, we started to create more chances. Everything was perfect; the only thing that didn’t happen was the ball going in the net. As the team started to communicate, it helped me gain my confidence back. I made seven total saves in that half but could not stop their third goal.. The last five minutes of the game was the best each individual could have ever played. We played with all our energy and full of heart. As the final whistle blew, we all knew that this was the end. End of the game, end of the soccer season, and most importantly, the end of our dreams. That day was the toughest day of my entire Hebron journey so far. I felt weak. I had no idea about what just happened. We were all helpless That day we lost New England quarterfinals by 3-1. That was the moment when I realized, if only I hadn’t given up in the first two minutes of the game, the results might have been a little different.
Every day since then, I miss soccer and my soccer family. Each day is a new beginning, so is the next year. We will work hard and will win the trophy.