Soccer is one of those sports it seems like everyone played when they were little. Countless stories start with "on the soccer team when I was younger..." and "at this one game I..." Many people fall in love with the sport, and many people would rather be doing anything else. However, most of us can relate to our time on the soccer team between a few things.
1. The classic pony.
To be honest you really just didn't have everything together if your Saturday didn't start off with you aggressively putting a soccer themed pony tail holder in your hair for the day's game.
2. The soccer mom of the week.
The real hero of every game is the mom who supplies the sliced oranges and Capri Suns for the game that week. Sometimes they would even surprise your tiny heart with post-game cupcakes or some other probably not-so-healthy snack too.
3. The day you got your last name on your jersey.
To be honest this was probably the best day of any child's short soccer career. Getting your name on your jersey meant that you were basically destined for the pros after all, right?
4. Using pre-wrap for everything except whatever it's really for.
Pre-wrap's main purpose is actually to help protect your skin from other medical supplies, like tape and bandages, that may cause any form of chafing or inflammation, and is supposed to be used before putting on athletic tape to protect the area being bandaged. But, nine-year-olds didn't know that and probably didn't care, to be honest, because you now knew how to make "cute" headbands and bracelets.
5. The weird obsession with Mia Hamm.
Even if you weren't that into Mia Hamm, if you were a young soccer-playing-girl in 2008, you sure pretended you did. Odds are you probably even wrote a biography report on her at some point or made a poster with her name on it.
6. Tournaments are where you thrived.
Nothing got the entire team together like participating in the upcoming tournaments even if you didn't really know how the whole ranking thing worked. In your head you were winning, at least.
7. Watching "She's The Man" (and really any other soccer movie) religiously.
If a movie had soccer in it, you already were pretty much required to check it out. "She's The Man" just happened to be one that stuck around the most. Probably because of Channing Tatum.
8. The interesting trophies.
Soccer trophies, especially when you are really young, tend to be...interesting, to say the least. But you loved them anyway.
9. Being a jerk in the high five line.
Probably the best way to be bitter against a team you lost to or a defense player who elbowed you and didn't get called out for it was to either not say "good game" or sike them out of a high five at the end of the game line.
10. Weird pre-game rituals.
Everyone knows the drill that when the referee comes over, it's time to vigorously tap on your shin guards to prove you have them on and to turn over your foot to show you actually are wearing cleats and not just some weird shaped shoes.
11. That special "soccer smell."
There really is nothing like the smell that comes from a small child's sweaty soccer shin guard, and it is something that should probably be burnt in a fire. Even worse is when your soccer bag and uniform would start to smell like it too.
12. Juggling showed strength.
Everyone knew that the coolest kid on the team was the one who could juggle the ball for the longest.
13. Your name face.
Since you were on the town team, you didn't have to abide by the township's school's mascots, so hours of your practice were probably spent arguing over what your team name should be. Everything from "the flying unicorns" to the "evil aliens" was up for grabs.
14. The screaming fans.
Nothing is worse than when your coach screamed at you from the other side of the field when you're only, like, eight years old. What is even worse is the parents of people you don't even know on the sidelines.
15. Tunnels on tunnels on tunnels.
However, the best thing is when the other team would make a tunnel of themselves and let you run through it because you were little and being nice was still a thing to do with the other team.
16. Ice was your friend and enemy.
Odds are, at one point or another, your body was sore from playing soccer and you had to sit on the couch and think you were going to get frostbite from your mom putting pounds of ice on your legs.
17. The off-field attire choices.
When you weren't on the field, you obviously wanted everyone to know you were a hardcore soccer player. So what better way to do it than advertise it through all your clothing choices? If you shopped at Justice, you know what I'm talking about.
18. Water breaks were a gift from god.
Water breaks during a long practice were great because not only could you get hydrated, you could catch up your friends on your new fifth grade drama.
19. Pulling out all the grass.
Whenever someone got hurt and you had to sit on the ground, you better believe you were working on pulling out all the grass in the surrounding area just because you were bored.
20. Making some amazing friends.
The people we grow up with change who we are when we get older, and I am happy to have met the girls I met starting on my U-6 soccer team.
