Dear Dad,
I do not know where I would be without you, although I know that being a college athlete would be out of the picture.
First I want to say that I am sorry. Sorry for not enjoying ballet. Sorry for putting so many miles on our now old minivan. Sorry for the birthdays you had to spend watching me play soccer. Sorry for the money I made you spend on uniforms and cleats. Sorry for all of the stinky drives home from my games and practice. I just want to let you know that it wasn’t all for nothing.
With that said, now I want to thank you. Thank you for signing me up for AYSO when you did. Who would have thought that my chubby little self would actually be able to run up and down the field for fun. I will never forget the post game goodie bags and halftime oranges, I actually miss them sometimes.
Thank you for seeing potential in me and convincing me to take it to the next level, club soccer. The sisters that I have made during my club years are irreplaceable and the lessons that I have learned are so valuable. I learned that there are always going to be people out there who care for me. I have learned that winning is not always the most important thing as long as I was improving as a player. I have learned how to handle criticism and I now understand that you have to give people the respect that they deserve.
Thank you for driving me to every game whether it was 5 minutes away for 5 hours away. I have visited places that I would have never visited if it wasn’t for soccer. I memorized the routes to our usual game locations and felt like a boss when I would share the directions with others.
Thank you for all of my post game lectures. You never let me quit when I was at my breaking point and instead gave me the life lesson that quitting is not the answer. You made sure that I knew when I had a bad game, and you always gave me something to work on for my next game. You reminded me that I am blessed to have the opportunity to play because many do not.
Thank you for encouraging me to continue playing soccer in college. I thought that I was done with soccer after high school but you pushed me to continue playing at the next level. You pushed me to get recruited and playing soccer in college is honestly one of the best experiences of my life, so I thank you.
Thank you for not just being a dad, but being my soccer dad. I am the player that I am today because of you. Thank you for always believing in me and I hope I have made you proud.
Love,
Your Little Soccer Star
