I could feel the hot sweat dripping down my back as I sprinted for the ball. As I approached the black and white object I gently tapped it to pass it to my teammate. After passing, I quickly cut and turned my body  to give her a passing option. As I turned, my black Nikes dug into the green grass. Making the familiar sound of plush grass getting torn out of the dirt by my cleats. My thick white Colonels jersey was clinging to my body. It was an extremely humid August day. My warm-up team was wearing the dreaded yellow pinnies. They smelled as if they hadn’t been washed in ten years, so there was always an argument of who would have to wear them. We continued to play our small sided game when my coach blew his whistle and signaled for us to rotate. My group unreluctantly handed our pinnies off to the next group. It was now time for us to shoot.

Our shooting station was very un-organized, as everyone just practiced their shots from different spots. I grabbed a ball and lined up a little to the right of the center of the goal. I stepped a few feet back from the white lined that marked the eighteen, also known as the goal box. I looked up to make sure that none of my teammates were in the goal. I then tapped the ball a few feet in front of me and shot the ball as hard as I could. The ball felt good coming off of my foot. I felt strong and powerful. After I kicked the ball I looked up and watched it soar way over the goal.

“Lean over the ball! Come on!” Halie yelled to me. “Here, try again and do it like this.” She walked over to a ball and effortlessly rolled it under her foot to move it to the place that she wanted it. She placed it on the penalty stripe and then backed away from it. “You need to keep your body over the ball so that it doesn’t soar 500 feet over the goal when you kick it,” she instructed. She then, in slow motion, showed me how to correctly shoot a soccer ball. She lined her left foot up next to the ball and swung her right foot back. As she was about to kick the ball, she suddenly stopped her foot. Her blue Nike Free Runs hung in the air for a second, her defined calves still.  “See how my shoulders are? This is how you want yours to be.” Her wide shoulders were facing down at the ground, and she kept her head down. Of course I was paying immensely close attention to her every move. Halie was one of the best female soccer players to ever play Brattleboro soccer. She’s a respected player and I felt lucky to get the chance to receive advice from her. “Are you ready to try now?” she asked me with a smile.
“Yes,” I replied, hoping that I wouldn’t look like a complete fool in front of her. I lined myself up to the ball that was still residing at the penalty strike. In my head I continued to think, Head down, shoulders down. Head down, shoulders down. I took a few steps back, took a deep breath and ran towards the ball, keeping my head and shoulders down. I swung my foot back and quickly brought it forward to make contact with the ball. Fortunately, I made contact with the ball. Too bad I also made contact with the ground. I was so focused and determine to stay over the ball that I managed to kick the ball and the ground at the same time. The ball awkwardly rolled into the goal. I could feel my face start to get hot with embarrassment. Great, I thought to myself. Here I was a high school senior, and I still couldn’t correctly shoot a soccer ball. I could only imagine what Halie was thinking to herself. She was probably thinking about how awful I was, and was amused by my efforts.

“Now you just have to meet somewhere in the middle. You kicked the ball over the goal” Halie said, jokingly. “then you kicked the ground...so you just need to find the happy medium of those two.” She placed another ball on the penalty strike, looked at me and smiled. “You got this!”

I stepped back from the ball again, and rolled my right ankle a few times. Kicking the ground didn’t feel too great. I took another deep breath, clearing my mind of what had just happened. I ran up to the ball and slammed my foot against it. I remembered to keep my head and shoulders down, but I didn’t stress about doing that. As I looked up I watched the ball bullet towards the upper left hand corner.

“Beautiful!” Halie exclaimed. “Now do that again,” she said as she placed yet another ball on the penalty stripe. I did everything the same way that I had done it before, and thankfully I got the same result. As I continued to shoot I found myself becoming more confident. Ball after ball was flying into the corners, shots near impossible for a goalie to stop. I was in the zone.

Next thing I knew the clock buzzed--it was game time. I looked over at Halie and she walked over to me. She threw her arm around my shoulder and looked at me. The sun was shining into her hazel eyes and I could see my reflection in them. “You got this kiddo,” she told me while she smiled. We walked over to the bench and joined the huddle. We made our hands into fists and put them into the pile with everyone else’s.

“Colonels on three! One, two, three!” our captain Abbie yelled.

“Colonels!” roared our entire team. As I pulled my hand away and began to make my way onto the field, Halie gave me a pat on the back for good luck. I made my way into my position located in the middle of our half of the field. I hopped up and down a few times to get myself ready. The referee blew his whistle, and the game began. For the next forty minutes I ran around, heading, cutting, kicking, defending, and sweating. The clock buzzed, and it was half time. The score was 0-0, and our team was exhausted on that hot August day. We made our way to the goal so that our coach could talk to us. I practically inhaled my yellow Gatorade, even though it was disgustingly warm. Our coach finished and we sauntered over to our bench.

As I was walking, I felt a hand wrap around me. Halie then moved herself in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders so that she was facing me. “Can you shoot please? I didn’t work with you for twenty minutes for you not to shoot,” she jokingly said. Her familiar smile spread across her face.

“I will shoot this half!” I said while laughing.

She stuck her pinky out and said, “Pinky promise?”

The buzzer then sounded signaling the end of half time so, I ran out on the field while yelling, “I can’t promise you anything!” I moved into my familiar position on the field, and the referee blew his whistle. The second half started and it felt like the first. It consisted of running around, heading, cutting, kicking, defending, and a lot of sweating. Within ten minutes of the first half we advanced into enemy territory on a fast break. There was commotion in the goalie box, and I positioned myself at the eighteen, the place that I had spent so much time before the game. I yelled to my teammates saying that I was open at the edge of the box. My teammate Devin then passed it to me. In one fluid motion I planted my left foot next to the ball, swung my right foot back and then forward and struck the ball with my head and shoulders down. As the ball connected with my foot it rocketed off. I then looked up and watched the ball soar into the upper right hand corner past a diving goalie. The ball sunk into the back of the net, and I jumped with excitement. Cheers erupted from the fans, our bench, and my teammates. We exchanged hugs and high fives as we jogged back onto our half of the field. As we jogged I looked over at Halie on the side line. Her arms were crossed across her chest, showing off her broad shoulders. She didn’t have her familiar smile, but instead a quirky smirk. I looked at her and smiled from ear to ear.

The game continued. More sweating, more running, and more soccer. The buzzer sounded and the game ended. We jogged over to our bench and Halie greeted me with an enormous hug. I stumbled back a few steps, not expecting such a powerful embrace. “I am so proud of you!” she exclaimed. “And by the way, I take credit for that goal. You’re shoulders were down, and it was the exact spot that we had practiced. I’m such a great teacher.”

“Or maybe I’m just a fast learner,” I joked. We then joined the line to shake hands with our opponent. After I was done I plopped down on the ground, exhausted. I removed my shin guards, dripping in sweat. Then removed my cleats, and put on my sandals. I re-did my hair, and painfully stood up. I wanted to thank Halie for helping me that day. I looked around, and I couldn’t find her. She had already left. I was upset that I didn’t get to thank her. She’s the reason that I was on cloud nine for a part of my day. I was lucky to get the chance to learn from such a great player.

One week later I found myself hovering around the eighteen. There was a scramble in the box and the ball got kicked out, not too far from where I was standing. I sprinted towards the ball, then kicked it a few steps in front of me. I let my leg fly and booted the ball into the upper left hand corner, making sure to keep my head and shoulders down. As the ball made its way to the back of the net I leaped in the air excitedly. I immediately thought of Halie, wishing she was there to see it.

After the game ended, and my coach had finished his post-game, I took a seat on the thin green grass. I heard my phone go off, so I dug into my bag and pulled it out. As I looked at my screen I saw that I had a message from Halie. I unlocked my phone, sliding my finger across the screen and typing in my password. Congrats on the goal! Way to keep your head and shoulders down! Proud of you kiddo! :)

I smiled while staring at my phone. I figured that Halie must have heard about my goal from her parents who were at the game. I typed back to her, Thanks! I guess you are a pretty good teacher! (;