Portland Timbers

The second game I attended was Portland Timbers FC vs. Chicago Fire FC. I still didn't feel super confident in my ability to cold-approach people and conduct an interview but I did feel a little less nervous than I did during the game in Chicago. It also helped that I went to this game with two friends who live in Portland, Scott and Collin. 

Because I was with Scott and Collin, we tried to talk to people who were also at the game in friend groups. We had a couple really interesting and fun conversations with some friend groups. We met one group of guys who were all interns at a local law firm and were just at the game for a fun time. Three of the four guys grew up playing soccer and all shared a similar experience of wanting to play professionally but not making it there. Since these guys were our same age, they were basically in the same boat as me so they didn't have much knowledge to pass on to me. However, it was very comforting to know that there are other people out there who are going through the same journey as me.

 Andres, Bobby, Xavier, and Erick were a group of guys we met in line for food during half-time. They were a bit younger than us (seniors in high school) but they were really cool guys. They shared that they all played for the same high school team and were just hanging out together to talk about how their summers were going. Bobby had actually recently been recruited to play D3 college soccer in Texas and hopes to one day play professionally. We ended up hanging out with these guys for the rest of the game so I got to bond with them about all sorts of soccer-related stories. 

After meeting a couple of people who were going through the same journey as me, this game left me feeling a lot more reassured that I am not by any means the only person going through the same struggle. Although this may sound obvious, when I was in high school and even today, I often felt very alone in my journey. I had other friends who had to let go of their dreams of playing soccer but they seemed to get over it a lot more easily than I was able to. 

Another realization I had after this game was that soccer has given me some of the most important people in my life. Every friend group we spoke to was brought together by soccer in some way. Some were just casual enjoyers and some were teammates. However, these groups of friends were connected to soccer, it reminded me of all the connections I've made because of soccer and how meaningful those people have been in my life. 

All of my closest friends in Georgia are from my soccer teams, not high school or any other extracurriculars. I don't think I need to explain how important best friends are to one's life but it did surprise me to realize that my closest friend would not be in my life today if it weren't for soccer. Further, all of the coaches I have had throughout the years have also had a major impact on my life. My coaches are the reason for many of the core values I hold today such as accountability and perseverance.