Chapter 6
The team is preparing for the quarter finals. They will have the quarters and the semis all this week. The two teams that advance through both games will make the finals, set for next Wednesday. Cassie is really nervous and excited for the quarterfinal game tonight. Sydney is excited and sad because she won’t be playing. Her good news though is that she gets her cast off the morning after the semis. Cassie has butterflies in her stomach all day long. Her classes seem to be taking forever. She can’t stop daydreaming about tonight’s game. Finally, finally school was let out for the day.
Cassie went into the locker and changed into her uniform. They warmed up and then their Coach assigned positions. The team lined up and the ref blew the whistle for the game to start. Cassie got the ball and when straight to goal. She shot and the goalie tipped it over the bar. Her teammate went out and took the corner kick; the girls were lined up to run into the box. They ran and Cassie jumped up and headed the ball straight into the goal. They had a one to zero lead going into halftime a big boost for the team. They needed more goals to secure the win. The other team played a lot worse in the second half. Cassie and her team ended up winning the game three to zero.
They got three days to prepare for the semifinals. Cassie was thrilled that they had made it this far. The rest of the week slowly went by. When Friday evening came it seemed like it had been eternity. Their coach said that they should just go out their and have fun. She said she would love for them to make it to the finals but to just play as a team and do your best. Cassie was starting out as a forward because their coach wanted them to get a quick goal. The game starts as soon as Cassie touches the ball. Play! They first half is very competitive but ends zero to zero. Ultimately the two teams are very even but Cassie’s team seemed to be getting the momentum near the end of the half. The second half is delayed because of rain.
Chapter 7
The second half was delayed to the next day. Sydney is going to miss the second half because she is getting her cast off. Cassie and her team arrive at the field adrenaline running throughout their bodies. They immediately start. It is dead even for forty minutes and then Cassie goes on a break away. This may be their last chance before the game goes to overtime. She has one defender to beat. The tension of the crowd is overwhelming. Then they start screaming. You can hear players crying and others screaming with delight. Cassie has scored on an amazing chip over the goalkeeper’s head. The opposing team has one minute left to score or lose the game. They quickly kick off. The clock is ticking down thirty… fifteen…. ten….five. The time is now or never. A defender steps up and she tackles the girl booting the ball halfway down the field. Cassie and her team are ecstatic. But the first thing Cassie does when she finishes is call Sydney and tell her. Sydney doesn’t answer her cell. Then someone grabs Cassie from behind. Sydney saw Cassie score the game winning goal. Cassie looks down Sydney can run and play soccer again.
The state championship is to be held Saturday. Sydney is available to play but probably won’t. Cassie is scheduled to start the championship. The girls will get one day off and have one practice before the finals. Everyone is extremely nervous, butterflies and all. Cassie and Sydney are sitting through school daydreaming about winning the state championship. Friday evening the girls board the bus that will take them to the hotel where they are staying. Finally Saturday morning arrives. The girls go to the field. In the stands they see what seems like the whole student body. There are parents and teachers, college and pro scouts. As the girls step onto the pitch the crowd goes insane. They feel like the weight of the world is on them. The team has so many emotions running through their bodies. The game begins. Cassie takes the ball up the field but the ball is stolen. The game continues on both teams are in a deadlock. Halftime zero- zero. Second half begins. The game intensifies. They need a goal and the clock ticking down. Their coach puts Sydney into the game because after all she is one of the top goal scorers. One minute left Sydney is fouled in the box. The whistle blow everyone assumes the game is over. But no the ref has called a penalty kick. The game is over if they make this they are state champions. Cassie takes the penalty kick and scores. They are state champions!!!!!!!!! Both girls get full ride college scholarships and go pro.
Dominick Schettini - The Journey to Victory
Chapter 1- The Introduction
There he was, Dominick Schettini, right in front of Van Der Sar, Manchester United’s goalkeeper, about to take the penalty kick that would win the UEFA Champions league for his team AC Milan. He was in England at the Old Trafford Stadium. The crowd was dead silent waiting for me to make my first step towards the ball. The score was 4-4 and my shot would determine who would be the champions of Europe. I was so nervous I could’ve wet myself. All my teammates and fans were beating so loud you could hear them from twenty feet away.
I was a 19 year old playing for one of the best clubs in the world. My position was left midfield and I was a starter. I was living in my own dream. I couldn’t ask for a better life at this moment. I was playing on the same team as my childhood favorite Alessandro Pato, he was a legend, one of the best players in the world. Although now I was my own favorite player. I had thousands of fans, I was a teenage millionaire. People wore my name on the backs of their soccer jerseys. Millions of people were watching me on a television. They were watching me at home, in bars, at restaurants, at airports, anywhere that had a TV. Thinking of this gave me the chills. I had goose bumps the size of mountains on my skin. I had been thinking of all the people that had sacrificed their time to help me get to where I am today. I was so thankful for all of them.
Now it was time, enough of thinking. The referee blew his whistle and it was time to put the ball in the back of the net. Right as I was inches away from kicking the ball I had a flashback of my whole life passing by me starting from when I was eight years old, the 2006 and the day July 13. This was the day, the day that I would be the beginning of my long, long journey that had all led up to.
Chapter 2- The Beginning
I was eight years old and was watching the world cup 2006 final Italy vs. France. At the beginning I wasn’t much into soccer and I was on a basketball team. I had only played soccer in an organized league once when I was four and five years old. The sport didn’t seem great to me so I decided to play basketball. My favorite sport was basketball until I had a conversion change to soccer the day of the world cup in Berlin, Germany.
The score was 2-2 at the end of the match so the game had to be decided by penalty kicks. Since I have Italian ancestors I was rooting for the Italians to win. The score was four to three and Italy had to take the penalty kick to win the game and become champions of the world. Grosso was up, one of the Italian players. It was his job to win the game for Italy. He was probably having the same flashback that I am having right now. There were about twenty people in the room and everybody was nervous. Grosso stepped up, and scored! Italy was the champions of the world for the fourth time in history right behind Brazil with five world cups. Everybody was going crazy, people in Italy celebrated for weeks. Rome was filled with soccer fans. Nobody had to work for days. After about a month everybody was back to normal and went back to their everyday jobs.
About a month and a half later I was signed up for a recreational soccer team in Mt. Pleasant. About a week later my team had their first practice. It was an awesome day. I did very well for a kid that hasn’t played in years. After practice I bought my first ever soccer ball. I practiced hours each day hoping to improve a little every day. I loved soccer and knew I wanted to play professional the day I had picked up that soccer ball. On a Saturday we had our next practice. I had improved so much since last practice. After practice was done I couldn’t wait until my first game on Tuesday. When I had got home I practiced even more soccer in my backyard for the rest of the day. I was improving rapidly. I practiced hours for my first game. I wanted to score my first goal.
Chapter 3- My First soccer season
Today was Tuesday and I had my first game today. I don’t fully remember this particular game. I do know that the score was 2-2. I scored the second goal for my team in the last ten minutes to give our team its 1st point of the season. I was satisfied with the result. Excpecially me scoring my first goal in my life in the first game of my life. Once I got home I practiced even more.
On Wednesday I got home did homework and started practicing soccer in my backyard. I wanted to be even better for my second game. When it came to be the day of the game I was very excited. The final of the game was 1-1. It was a tie, I gave a cross to the forward and he scored. My third game we won 3-1, I scored two back to back goals giving us the lead, and a forward named Derek giving us the insurance goal. This was my first win of the season. I also gave us the lead to bring us victory in that game, I couldn’t have been happier. The season went on and we made it to the playoffs. We won that game 2-0. I did not put any goals in that game. Instead I played goalie. We moved on to the next round for the semifinals. We sadly lost 2-1. Being defeated made me sad but I knew that there will always be next season.
Our team had an end of the season party at a pavilion. Since this was recreational soccer even if you become dead last on the scoreboard you get a trophy. We ended the season in 4th place but we got a trophy anyways. There was also three extra awards at the end. One was for the MVP. Another was for scoring the most goals on our team which we call the golden boot. The last award was most improved award. This was given to the player that had showen the most improvement throughout the season. I was awarded this accolade. I was very happy that my improvement had been realized by my coach. I couldn’t wait for next season.
Chapter 4- A change of teams
It was about August and it was time to sign up for the next soccer season. Once my mom and I got to the registration table they said it was too late to sign up for the season. After I heard that I was sad. Then my mom asked if there were any other teams that I could be on in the Mt. Pleasant and Charleston area. The girl at the registration then said that there was a club in Mt. Pleasant. That brought my hopes up a lot. My mom immediately asked for the club. It was called MPSC. This was a more advanced team, this team travels to different cities for tournaments and it is much more competitive. The next week I had my first practice.
When I got to the practice I had already known one of the kids, his name is Zach, and he goes to my school. There was also another kid that would soon become one of my best friends, his name was Alex we also call him Shevy because his last name is Shevilino. This club was broken into 3 teams, Elite the top B the middle and C the very bottom. Since I wasn’t as experienced as much of the kids here I was put on the C team. I understood this mostly because all the other kids had been playing since they were four years old. I started when I was 7. Within the next two weeks I had my very first soccer tournament in Hilton head, SC. I scored 15 goals in 4 games winning the tournament. I had improved so much since last year. The reason being because I had grown a lot last year and had gotten much taller and stronger. This tournament was the beginning of my golden years!
As the soccer season went on I was scoring an average of more than two goals per game. I was doing the best I have ever done in my whole life. Right as I thought nothing could get better, there was a new kid coming to my class at school. His name is Alex Shevilino as earlier mentioned. He and I became best friends. Since we were also on the same club we had known each other before but never really talked because we were on different teams, he was on the elite. We went to each other’s houses a lot. We were always playing soccer together. I thought were always going be best friends but in 6th grade he left the school and went to Cairo. I saw him occasionally about every two weeks mostly because of soccer. But I missed messing around during school with him. Then I learned in 7th grade that I would have 3 new friends that love soccer just as much as I do.
Chp.5- Plan “B”
After one year with MPSC on the C team I was going to try out for the B team. After out skilling all the B team players I would think that the coaches would come to their senses and put me on the B team. When I saw what team they had put me on at the end of tryouts I didn’t like the result. They once again put me on the C team. But I had already had a plan “b” if this was going to happen. I decided to play on a new club called DISA. DISA was a club in my neighborhood Daniel Island this is much better for my mom because instead of paying gas to go to Mt. Pleasant I could just ride my bike or go on our golf cart to practice.
I went to the DISA tryouts, and was put on the team. My team had really cool guys, I had already known one of the players, and his name is Jake. He goes to my school. The first person I got to know was a kid called Freddy, we are both outside midfielders. Since his mom is from Peru and my mom is from Colombia, our parents quickly became friends. We often went to each other’s houses after practices during the summer. The first season on DISA was an okay season because this was our first season playing together. I scored about ten goals the whole season. By the next season we got very good very quickly. I had scored 31 goals in just the spring season! We won that season by one point. We tied the game 3-3.
All we needed to do to win the season was tie and we did. I scored the first goal within four minutes. The whole team dog piled on me. Then the other team scored two goals within the next 20 minutes. We were down 1-3 at half time. The whole first 20 minutes of the second half for both teams were goalless until I score an upper ninety from about ten yards away. 3-2 with five minutes left with the game. I received the ball then went down the line, cut inside the eighteen and was about to take a shot until I got slid from the behind. It was a PK. I usually take the PK’s but this time Dylan a center mid took it. Coach didn’t want it to seem like I was the teams complete goal scorer. Dylan luckily made it! We had tied the game! We were the season champions! We had gotten our trophies at our team end of the year party for being season champions.
Chapter 6- Almost There
I continued on for the years playing for my club DISA. And when I was fourteen I tried out for the state team. I had easily made it. Then I went to go tryout for the regions but sadly did not make it. Although next year I tried out for the region team again and made it! I was so happy! Then I tried out for the national team. I always thought to myself if I ever made it to nationals I would surely go professional. When I tried out I tried to keep confident. And I knew if I didn’t make it I would always be able to try out next year. I didn’t make it but it was worth the try. I also had another plan anyways. I was going to try out for the Charleston Battery.
The Charleston Battery was a semi-professional club on Daniel Island Where I live. When I tried out I started off rough because I have never been so nervous before. Later on in the try outs I started getting the rhythm down. When I got home I couldn’t wait for the call next week to see if they wanted me on the team. When the longer week than usual went by I had gotten the call and was accepted on to the team. I was the youngest player ever to play on the Charleston Battery. I didn’t play much though. I barely played at all until The Charleston Battery played its annual tournament when they played with teams in the MLS. At half time we were down 2-0. In the second half I was put into the game and I scored a goal after only about two minutes and a half. Then after about fifteen minutes I had assisted my teammate a cross and he put the ball in the back of the net from a volley. When there was only four minutes left in the game. I played a one two and then my teammate gave me a through ball behind the defender and all I had to do was put the ball in just one of the four corners. I chose the bottom left. I scored! I had just won the game!
Since Colorado Rapids and Chivas USA were playing next their managers were watching me. After the game the Colorado Rapids manager gave me his card and told me and told me to call him at eight o’clock the next morning. I got the phone ready the next morning and called him exactly at eight. He picked up and asked who it was and I reminded him that it was Domi
nick Schettini. He told me to go to the Rapids tryouts in the summer. He mailed me the tickets and the hotel reservations. The week I tried out I was doing very well. I was constantly creating runs and plays. When I got back to Charleston and they called. They told me they were going to give me a one year contract with the team. At that point the USA U19 coach called me and asked me if I wanted to be on the team and I obviously said yes. By now I could tell I was almost their!
Chapter 7- Something Needs to Change
Since I was a substitute for the u19 national team, I knew this wasn’t going to go far if all I was was a sub. So I tried out for the Ecuadorian men’s national team. I had made the team. So at this point I was playing for the Colorado rapids and Ecuador. At that point I was already living my dream. But I still didn’t feel satisfied I wanted more fame! I wanted more popularity in the world! So I decided to do what most soccer players do when they are in this position. I decided to go to Europe! It was a no-brainer to me that I wanted to play on AC Milan, my favorite team in the world. So I bought a ticket to Milan, Italy on the week of their tryouts. I stayed in a 5 star hotel and waited for the next morning to start the week long tryouts.
The Meandering Mind - Creative Musings of 7th Graders Page 7
