Imagine this, working your butt of for two weeks three times a day, everyday, for nothing. A teams main goal is success and accomplishment. Preparation for a season involves a lot of heart and guts. A positive outcome for our team would be finishing our season with a good enough record to make the NCAA tournament in November. This tournament is only for the most qualified teams in the NJAC conference of play on the east coast. Known as one of the most competitive conferences in all of division three soccer, in conference games in the NJAC league are always a battlefield. Going into a game against one of our competitors in the division, like the college of new jersey for example, is as nerve-racking as being in a broken elevator. The hype can be felt early as three and four days before a game. In the locker rooms, on the practice field, in the dorms, and in the classrooms, we all have our mind on one thing. That one thing is the reward waiting for us at the end of all our in conference games. That'd be a chance to go to the NCAA tournament in hopes of capturing a national title for division three soccer. Winning a prestigious title such as the national title is every soccer players dream. The feeling of being the best of the best is like nothing else.
I went to Brick memorial high school and i played for a man that would never accept defeat. Defeat in his eyes was inexcusable and he had the power to change a player in effort to create a winning team. He had the power, and he executed his power. We won sectional titles and state championships. I felt the highest form of adrenaline in my life playing in front of that man, He brought out the best in us all and he taught us that we were all stronger than we previously thought. Heart is the most important part of a team because playing with heart meant winning, and winning was literally everything. My sophomore year we had more talent that we could have ever imagined. When we lost 4 games in a row, nobody could understand why we weren't connecting our talent together as a team. It got to the point that if we didn't start winning, starting with our next scheduled game, our season would go nowhere but downhill and we would have no success. We prided ourselves by the motto's on the sides of our shirts. It said that we were the hardest working team at the shore. We were the fittest we could be come game time in September, every year. For all that hard work to be wasted was an unimaginable thought.
Unfortunately, we are in a similar situation right now here at Stockton. To make the tournament at the end of the year means a team must have at least a .700 percent winning record. Basically a season with almost double the amount of wins to losses. Even with that nothing is guaranteed. If we do not win our next game, which is an in conference game against Rowan, we can kiss our chances of making the tournament goodbye. This next game is pretty much do or die. Its amazing how one game out of 18 in a season can change everything. To not make the tournament would be absolutely devastating. I feel as if we owe our seniors one last chance at the national championship. To let them all down, would be a negative aspect of our team going into next year. More than that, we would be letting all of our coaches and fans that love and support us down as well. That is a burden that I do not want to take upon my shoulders as our season moves on. Out of the 1,440 minutes in a single day, all it takes is 90 minutes of hard work to change our season around. 10,080 minutes are in a single week. All it takes is 90 of those minutes in a single game to change everything, and to make everything you've worked for worth the while. With all the effort and preparation put into preseason, its would only make sense to have a winning record and want to be successful.
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