I will always have a passion for this sport. I have played it since I was just four years old and I have been watching it on TV for as long as I can remember. The feeling of the grass against my feet as I run from end to end. The joy of scoring a goal. The thrill of winning a game. The excitement of playing an eleven versus eleven game for the first time. This sport will always be my favorite.

I will never forget my first memory of playing soccer when I was four years old. I remember not even being half the height of the big goals and playing with tiny little goals in four versus four games. 

I will never forget my first memory of watching soccer. The moment my current favorite team scored a goal in the last minute to secure not only the game but also my passion for soccer that has lasted up until even today. I even remember thinking, right as the game ended, I’m gonna watch every game. And I have.

I played for a soccer club in Wisconsin for the entirety of my youth soccer career until eventually I joined the highschool soccer team as a freshman. I played for my highschool team until my junior year when my passion for soccer was truly tested.

Crack! My kneecap pops out of my knee. Right at the end of a game. A piece of bone is ripped out as my kneecap pops back in. I was devastated. I even remember thinking a couple of days later following my surgery to remove the broken off piece of bone that I’m never going to play again.

This was not entirely true. If I were to rephrase that statement, I would say something more along the lines of “I am never going to play competitively again.” Although I may never play competitively, I will always watch soccer. This is because nothing could ever get me to stop enjoying the sport. 

If I may only watch soccer for the rest of my life and never play competitively again, so be it. I will continue to watch soccer every day and I still watch it to this day. The reason for this comes down to one simple reason: I will always have a passion for this sport.