YMCA Soccer Season Comes to an End

                                                                  By: Tyler Cobbs

            SMYRNA, Tenn.— The North Rutherford Family YMCA held its final game of the annual fall youth soccer program on Nov. 5, drawing dozens of children.

            The YMCA’s youth soccer league is for ages 3 to 10 and lasted from Aug. 22 to Nov. 5. The soccer league was split into two age groups: preschoolers ages 3 to 6 and grade-schoolers ages 7 to 10. The cost for registration is $55 for YMCA members and $65 for everyone else.

            Having fun, staying active, and learning how to play the beautiful game of soccer is what this program is about. It also brings a community of people together in favor of one goal: to teach their children good sportsmanship.

 “I really love the values and beliefs here at the YMCA and my 6-year-old daughter Isabelle loves it,” said Veronica Martinez. “She is always super excited to get out of school and go to practice.”

            Sports Director Grayson Hamilton, who is in charge of the soccer program is responsible for making everything run smoothly. He makes sure the teams have the same amount of time to practice, gets all of the jersey’s made for the teams before the season, and make sure the soccer fields are game ready each week.

Hamilton also coached two teams, one from each age group.

            The final match of the season was played at 10 a.m. on Nov. 5 between two of the preschool age group teams, Team Bullock and Team Gordon. The match was close, but very entertaining. It was a very warm day for it to be less than a month away from Thanksgiving, and the heat was clearly getting to the kids on the field. Hands were on hips and jerseys were soaked with sweat.

The YMCA staff and volunteers handled the heat very promptly by having multiple water breaks for the kids to prevent dehydration. The final score ended up in a 6 to 6 draw, with all of the kids involved receiving a medal and a cupcake afterwards.

            “My favorite part about our soccer program is that it brings people together,” said Gary Cobbs, the former executive director. “It also gives families a chance to get their kids into something active and healthy. You never know, this could open the door for a career for some kids.”       

            For information about the YMCA soccer program visit  www.soccer@ymcatnmid.org.

                                                                                                 

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Soccer Lifestyle

By  Ismael Omana

Growing up with siblings who have been rather successful in sports was a challenge for me. When I was attending elementary school, I wasn’t involved in any athletics, so it was hard to pick a sport going into school. http://www.kes.rcs.k12.tn.us/

My brother played soccer in college for a small school in Georgia. The pressure that my family was pushing on me to become somewhat of a star like him was increasing by the day. My sister also played softball in college but only her freshman year due to an injury. My sixth grade year was coming up, and I still had no clue what sport to try and attend.

 I attended Kittrell Elementary School in Readyville, Tennessee. The school wasn’t known for sports at all and didn’t have a boys soccer team at the beginning of my sixth grade year. One day near the fall, I was sitting in my homeroom class when I decided to actually listen to the announcements. I heard something about a boys soccer team being organized for the first year. I went home really happy that day because I felt like I was going to give the sport a shot.

 I attended the first meeting with my mom, and I got my physical the next day. We have to keep in mind that I had never even touched a soccer ball by this point. I was extremely nervous at tryouts, but I knew I had a strong work ethic. It would take a lot out of me to actually not make it. I had finished tryouts, and the list of who made the team was posted on coach’s door the next morning.

I woke up the next morning and rushed my mom to take me to school because I was curious to see if I had made it or not. I got to the school with a great feeling that I had made it. I showed up to his class, and I took a look at the door. My name was the first one on the list! I have never been so happy, and I knew it was a start to actually becoming something like my siblings. Everything seemed to be going my way, and our first game was coming up really quick.

I still didn’t know anything about soccer though, I was really confused about what position to play. I talked to coach one day after a practice session, and I asked him what position to dedicate my time to.

 He said, “You are an athletic kid, and you should go for any position you want to because I believe you are capable to play anything.”

 It was definitely a confidence booster for me, and I took his advice. I like being the center of attention, so I decided to play forward because those players are typically the goal scorers.

My first season went by quickly, and I was blessed to receive the award for most goals in my division. I was really happy, and it was a gift to be so good at a sport that I had no knowledge about. http://www.dnj.com/picture-gallery/sports/high-school/2016/05/11/oakland-soccer-2-riverdale-1/84225516/

 

 

 

After my elementary school season, I transferred to Oakland Middle School where I tried out for the soccer team. It was the school’s first year being open, so no one thought that we were going to be good. This is the year I broke my toe during practice, and our first game was the next day. I went to TOA in Murfreesboro, and they couldn’t really do much about a broken toe. Healing for that injury takes time, and that’s something I didn’t have. I was really sad, but I came back half way through the season! I received an award for being best forward player in our district. I felt extremely blessed to finally be dedicated to a sport.

Then after my middle school career, I played for Oakland High School. I didn’t play freshman year due to a knee injury. I came back sophomore year starting varsity the next three years. I had a few college coaches come see me play, but the school’s offer wasn’t sufficient enough for me. I received offers from three different colleges, but I decided not to take any because they were all really distanced from home. http://www.ohs.rcschools.net/Athletics/Boys%20Soccer/index.html

My senior year of Oakland High School I joined a club team for the off-season. I played for Nashville Futbol Club http://www.nashvillesc.com/ for one year, and I got plenty of soccer recognition. Colleges from all over the eastern side of town, came to all the tournaments. NFC. has been advancing with their soccer program. They have registered to become a real MLS team. In a couple years, Nashville will be known as a major soccer city.

In order to prepare for an event like this, you have to work hard. This requires soccer experience. I will be trying out for the Division 2 team next summer, so I need to be in shape in order to compete with professionals.

I have plenty of experience in the sport, and I’m currently getting prepared for some college tryouts for next summer. The main issue for getting prepared is the time to do it. I’m a full time student who also works the time I’m not at school. In order to be able to practice I will need to manage my time better. This will help me have time for working out getting in shape, and practicing all sorts of drills. In the near future I plan on transferring to play soccer for MTSU after my two years of Tennessee promise. The reason I didn’t go to MTSU straight after high school to play soccer was because of a knee injury that has been holding me back. I wish injuries didn’t exist, because it stops athletes from pursuing their dreams.

Accidents Happen Everyday

By Ashton Fogle

            Growing up, I always wanted to become a dancer just like my aunt. My parents enrolled me in dance class when I was 3 years old, and I have been dancing ever since. (http://www.thedancersschool.com). Though I loved dance very much, it wasn’t the only thing I was interested in. 

On my 10^th birthday, I had asked my parents if I could try a new sport, soccer. When I told them what sport I wished to try, they were very shocked but also thrilled. My mom didn’t like the idea of her little girl playing soccer. She was very protective of me and didn’t want me to get hurt. My dad, on the other hand, loved the idea. He had played soccer when he was growing up, so of course that made me want to try it even more. He told me if I didn’t like it, then we would just keep trying until I found something I loved. Right then and there, I had made the decision to play soccer.

As soccer season started in summer of 2014, I was ready to play. I was eager to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. (http://arrowsup.org/girls_soccer) Our first game of the season, we won 2-0 against Cannon County. I scored the first goal. Then our second game we won 3-1 against Shelbyville. And then it all went downhill from here. Our third game of the season, we were playing Franklin High. It was 20 minutes into the first half. I was dribbling the ball down the field so close to scoring. I could feel the intensity running through my bones. As I was shooting, a girl came up behind me and completely took my legs out. I was planting my foot to shoot the ball. All of my weight was on my left leg, and that’s when the girl swiped my legs out from under me and I fell right on my knee. I heard the crowd gasp as I was falling. My teammates were running towards me asking if I was okay. I didn’t respond. I was in shock. I was in pain. All I remember is asking for water over and over again.  

In that moment I thought to myself, “What in the world just happened?” the light flashed before my eyes, and I wasn’t real sure if I was hurt or just got the breath knocked out of me. As I was lying there on the ground, my coach and a few of my teammates ran over to see if I was okay. I told them that my knee was hurting really bad, and I couldn’t straighten it. They asked me if I could stand up, so I tried, but I couldn’t walk on it. This was a pain I have never felt before. I thought it was all a dream. The trainer got there as I was trying to get up, and he carried me off the field. My mom was pretty upset because in high school soccer parents aren’t allowed to step on the field so she couldn’t even see if I was okay. The trainer took me off of the field and checked out my knee. He asked a few questions and said that I might have torn something. I looked at him and started to cry. All I could think about was, "Is this the last game I’ll ever get to play?" or "Am I going to have to have surgery?". My knee was swollen, it was throbbing and turning purple. My mom finally got to me and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, and of course I said no. I’ve never been to the hospital, and I was frightened of what they were going to say.

That night I went home and iced it. I couldn’t sleep at all through the night because the pain was horrifying. The next day, I went to school to see the trainer. I wanted to see if he knew anything before having to go to the doctor. He told me that my MCL could possibly be torn and I should stay off of my leg until I saw a doctor. A few days later, my mom scheduled an appointment for me with an Orthopedic surgeon. He told me that everything was fine I just needed to stay off of the knee for a couple of weeks until the swelling went down. He asked me to come back in a week or two for a follow up appointment. I did so, thinking nothing was wrong. After a few weeks I went back to dance and practicing a little with the soccer team. My knee didn’t feel the same though. I had told my surgeon that, but he persistently told me everything was fine.

After almost a year of dancing and playing on my knee, it turned out the surgeon I was going to wasn’t qualified for knee surgery, so I went to a surgeon who was qualified. His name was Michael Jordan(https://toa.com/physicians/michael-r-jordan-md) whom I personally thought was pretty awesome. Dr. Jordan told me I should get an MRI to see what was really going on inside my knee. It was going to take a couple of weeks to get the results back. During those couple of weeks, I was anxious, and scared to see what the results would be. I didn’t want my soccer or dance career to end. My results finally came back. The doctor asked me to come in so he could talk to me in person. I obviously knew something wasn’t right. Walking into the building to see the surgeon was terrifying. The doctor said there was some bad and good news. I had a torn ACL and meniscus and that I would require surgery and lots of therapy afterwards. After hearing that, my heart dropped, I didn’t know what to think. I had never had surgery in my life, and I just wasn’t expecting it. 

He scheduled my surgery for May 29, 2015. After surgery, I would have physical therapy for three months, twice a week, for two hours at a time. Therapy was very hard, especially right after surgery. You almost forget how to do some things, but once you feel that feeling of “oh I can do this”, it just gets easier and easier. During the three months of physical therapy, I learned a lot about myself and who I want to be after I graduate from high school. Physical therapy changed my perspective on things, and during it, I decided that I wanted to become a physical therapist. I want to help people get through tough times and I want to help them succeed just like I did. It’s 2016, and I am a freshman in college. I have not started playing soccer yet, but this year I did start dancing again. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I got back in class. One day I will be ready to step back onto the soccer field and start playing again. I cannot wait until that day.