I love playing soccer! I have played soccer since I was three years old. I had a plan, like I am sure most people who play sports do, get a scholarship to play in college. I was going right along with that plan, things were falling into place. I was playing soccer year around with club teams and high school ball. My high school coach kept me in the loop on college coaches looking at me, and all of a sudden everything changed.

Its my senior year, first game of the season and my team is all out on the field warming up for our game. Everything is like it has been from freshman year to now, us four seniors have played together, minus a few players along the way. We have worked hard in preseason and the four of us want nothing more than to go beyond just district champs this year. The ref calls the captains over, which are the seniors. We all shake hands with the opposing team, and then the quarter toss goes on,. Parkview gets kickoff, and we turn around and walk back to the huddle to pray and hear what coach has to say. All eleven of us walk out on to that field, ready to start the season off right.

I am playing right back, which is the defender on the right side of the field. One of Parkview's forwards dribbles the ball towards me. I have done this a thousand times. Attacked forwards to get the ball back, dribbled up the field. But this one time, taking a step a second late, costs me my senior season. The forward trips over the ball and lands on my knee. I have torn my ACL. I would later find out from the doctor, that its only torn about a quarter of the way through, . I won't need surgery, but I was out for the season. I did make it back to play in the Senior Night game, but it took a lot of hard work and rehab to get my knee stable enough for that.

I would no longer be able to play for any colleges. My time on the soccer field was over... Or so I thought. I can't play in college, but I sure can teach little kids how to play soccer! So I have taken up coaching. It feels good to be on the soccer field anyway I possibly can. I play in an adult league at Lake Country with some friends, and I try and make a team for the Ozark Summer Sizzler fundraiser, but the majority of my time now invested into the beautiful game is coaching. I wouldn't have guessed this is where I would be looking back, but I can honestly say, I wouldn't give up coaching for anything.