Ever since I could remember I was the soccer kid. That's what my friends knew me as that is what my teachers knew me as that is what my family knew me as. But after 18 years of being the soccer kid, it was time to hang up the cleats, retire the grass-stained shorts, pack away the stinky shinguards, and finally say thank you to a sport that has given me everything for 18 years of my life.

I remember my very first game, I was four years old thinking that I was on top of the world and nothing could get better; I was playing in my first soccer game ever! I laced up my cleats, took the field and waited for what felt like forever until the referee blew his whistle. Who would have thought that the sound of that whistle would become one of my favorite sounds in the world? After scoring my first goal ever, we won the game. It was one of the happiest moments of my childhood.

Next thing you know I am ten years older, in high school level soccer, and I am no longer that four-year-old girl who was only playing because I loved the game. I was playing to be the best, and to be something…. Somebody. Man did I have it wrong back then. Fast forward and I am preparing to go play in college. I made it, my dreams of playing the game that I love the most are coming true. But I did not know it would be the last time I would lace up my cleats. I did not know it would be the last time I would step onto the field as a player.

It was eighteen years of blood, sweat and tears, eighteen years of constant training. It was eighteen years of my life playing a game that has given everything to me, from that very first game to the very last game I ever played. So I think it is time for a thank you to soccer, a thank you for not just being a sport but a lifestyle, a thank you for teaching me what it meant to not just be an athlete, but also what it meant to be a leader, a teammate and a friend.

Love your former player,

Rebecca