I never thought that waiting for him to tie my cleats, and running over to my mom on the sidelines to get water would turn into where I am now. At that time, it was just a hobby, something fun to do after school. While it is still something fun now, it has turned into something way different. Soccer is my passion, something I wish I could do forever. That all started with my dad. He has been my coach my whole life, pushing me to get better and better, even when I didn’t have the motivation. From my first soccer team on SCYSA, to my current club, he has helped me along the way. And the best part about it is he loves being there too. He loves watching me do the sport I love, and coaching the sport he loves too. 

Our relationship grows stronger after each soccer practice or game we drive to, the weekend stays in a hotel, arguing over a game on the way back home, and watching the Premier League on T.V., always hearing him say, “watch what he does with this”, and, “What a goal”.  I remember all the practices throughout elementary school, Covid-19, and now, hearing him say, “better touch on that”, and “gotta get the ball out in front of you more”. At that time I never really understood it. Why does one thing make such a big difference? Some days it made me mad, it seemed as if he was only being hard on me, but that’s what you get when you are the coach’s daughter, because he knows what I can do, and if I wasn’t doing it to my full potential. But now I realize that he was right because if he never said those things, or helped train with me on my own, or set time to help me get better, I never would be here thinking about the next step for soccer beyond high school. 

Not only has this grown my relationship with my dad, but it also made me love the game more and more. I feel so lucky that I have something in my life that I love this much, and can continue doing, but I don’t think that I would have loved it as much if I didn’t have my dad as my coach.