When my father first told me that he had signed up to be a soccer coach, I was not surprised. He had religiously attended all of my games, even sacrificing his work time. Saturday mornings were always the same in my house, the family gathered around the television in the family room and watching the English Premier League soccer games. But now he could be in the game, instead of shouting at the television when something went wrong. This was more than a dream, as my dad had one functioning leg, and had not played sports in years.

With my passionate interest in soccer, I made a point to attend the first practice, to help coach with my dad. After playing name games and meeting everyone, I knew our team was destined to succeed.

During our first game, I helped the girls warm up in the bitter cold by leading stretches and making some jokes to lessen their nerves. Since I was currently playing goalie for my high school varsity soccer team, I took a special interest in our young goalkeeper. She was decent for her age, and she hoped to be a highschool goalkeeper. At the time I was the varsity keeper for our school. Therefore we never ran out of topics to discuss. I told her everything I knew about the high school team, something that I wish someone had told me. Coming into a high school team without any knowledge, I was met with a harsh, unfair coach with a very niche strategy. Only until my junior year did I really feel like a part of the team.

My dad and I were overjoyed to hear that our team would be participating in the championship. The night of the game, my dad was equipped with his lucky hat and was in “super serious coach mode” as our family had joked. At the half, the game was tied at 0-0, and tensions were high. I noticed that our team was struggling to score, which was unusual. In response, my dad made a lineup change to see if we could spark some offense. His change seemed to have allowed us to win. When the final whistle blew, for the first time ever, I witnessed my dad jump in the air with a huge smile on his face. The kids swarmed him, excited for their trophies and bragging rights at school.

As we lined up to thank the officials, our team’s goalkeeper tapped me on the shoulder. “I can’t wait to play in highschool” she told me, “I want to be just like you.” I smiled and repeated the same words my dad said to me when I first became a goalkeeper, “you can do anything you set your mind to.”