"You have to work as one, think like one, you all have to be one.”

Coach Dan tried to lift us up as our team was on a two-game tying streak. We all knew something was missing and we knew our chemistry was gone. Instead of everyone crossing to each other and doing wall passes, we were dribbling through defenders when there were wide-open players. I was captain and I felt like I was letting my team down. I was trying to be a good leader, but something just wasn’t clicking.

In practice that day, Coach Dan’s quote stuck with me. I just couldn’t forget about it. I realized I needed to do what the quote
said. I had to work with my teammates and be a leader. When my teammates needed my help, I needed to do everything
I possibly could to help them. I knew what I needed to do. I just needed to execute my plan, and that is the hardest part. When it was my turn for the drill, I held onto the ball for about five seconds and then passed it to my wide-open teammate. She got it, immediately shot it, and it was blocked.

Darn it, I thought to myself because I knew if she would have passed it back to me, I would have had a wide-open shot. After the shot, Dan pulled us over and said that we needed to do more wall passes because that would be the key to winning. So my teammates and I tried to do wall passes, but we were just getting so frustrated when it wasn’t working. As I dribbled down the thick grassy field, anger was brewing through me. Each step was heavier than the last, and I had to try extra hard to keep myself from falling. I was so angry because nothing was working. I felt like we had tried everything to get our chemistry together, but our strategy was not working. Maybe all of my team needed to talk about what was happening and get our anger out. So, after practice, my team had a meeting and I told myself that I needed to be a leader.

“Guys, we need to do something about getting our chemistry back,” I said.

“Nothing’s working and I am just getting so frustrated,” Jane said.

“Me too. At the beginning of the season, we didn’t have this problem,” I replied.

We all nodded in agreement. I felt like a bad captain because this team needed a leader to guide us through the season, and I was doing the exact opposite. I had absolutely zero ideas to help my team get out of our tying streak.

We were all deep in thought when Katie laughed,“It’s almost like we need to get into each other's brains.”

As we were laughing, Coach Dan called the captains over. Katie, Jane, and I jogged over to him slowly because our legs felt like Jell-O. We were exhausted from doing drills in practice today. Dan came up with a plan that might fix our problem: switching positions. He put people that work well together close to each other so they connect passes easier.

This changed our approach to how we played our game. Now more things were getting put together, and we were thinking like one. More passes were being made and more goals were being scored, but I knew the new positions weren’t going to win the game — it was going to be our attitudes. We had to have confidence in ourselves and not take ourselves out of the game because of a tiny mistake. No one was going to stop us from being the best that we possibly could be except ourselves. Now, when it was game time, the past wasn’t going to matter, but the actions we made throughout the game were. We needed to remember to hold our heads high because we were a good team, and we needed to prove that to others.

That night as I was trying to fall asleep, I thought about ways to make myself a better leader, but I just couldn’t come up
with anything. My brain felt clogged and no ideas were coming out. Nevertheless, I had to connect with my team and not get upset when someone messed up. I wanted my team to look up to me and see me as a good example. I didn’t want my team to think I was a bad captain because we were in our tying slump. Ultimately, I felt horrible about the situation because my teammates had voted me to lead the team to success. They believed that I was a good leader at the beginning of the season, and now I needed to show them I was a leader the whole entire season.

Today’s the day, almost as important as the championship. Before the game, I talked to my team.

“Today we have to work as one, just like Dan said at practice the other day. We have to show others and ourselves that we are the best team out there and that we deserve the win. Every single one of us needs to lead our team out on the field. Let's win and have fun!”

Now that I talked to my team, I needed to talk to myself. I needed to remember to be a leader and lead my team to victory. I was overthinking everything and I just needed to play my best and lead by example. As I jogged onto the field, I knew that today I would show the world that I did deserve to win and that I was a good leader. Each steps I took, the more confidence I gained. The field lights shined bright as I was getting ready to start the game. These lights were like my stage light because I was ready to put on a show.

My heart was beating so fast it seemed like it was going to explode. My body trembled as the referee blew the starting whistle. The ball escaped my feet as I passed it to my teammate. She dribbled down the field and the game began. There was something different about today. Maybe it was the cool but perfect weather, the wind blowing my hair, or the way the crowd cheered for us. But that was not it, it was a feeling. It was the feeling that the chemistry we had lost somehow returned to us. It was no longer missing, because pass after pass, we never lost the ball. The ball soared through the air as I scored the first goal.

Yes, I thought to myself, this is what we have worked so hard for!

We were being unselfish and giving the ball up when we needed to and shooting only when it felt right. This is the game I loved. All of the frustration I felt earlier this week left me. The game went by so quickly, and I was so proud of all of us and how the game played out. Goal after goal after goal, my confidence was boosted, and at that moment, I knew we had what it takes to win the championship. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but after this game, I just knew our team was never going to be the same again. Everyone would always give 110 percent for all of our games and practices because the end result of winning and seeing that your work paid off is something remarkable.

As my family and I drove home that night, I felt so proud of my team, how I played, and my leadership, but I also remembered that none of that would’ve happened without my team. We never could have won if we didn’t work together. I felt so proud because of our teamwork and bond. Coach Dan was right, we needed to work as one and not be segregated because that is how we are going to win and be successful. I also stepped up as a leader and led my team to victory.

As I continue my journey through life, I will always carry this memory with me because it made me a better person. It taught me to be unselfish and that not everything revolves around me. I also now know that I need to step up and be the leader that my team needs. I know now that I can’t achieve anything without having confidence in myself.