Lilly

Our first game is tomorrow and I haven’t been this nervous since I started my first varsity match in my freshman year.

I feel like I have reason to be anxious. We’ve only been practicing outside for a few days; we’re playing a new formation that puts me in a position with more responsibilities than last year; I know for a fact that I’m fighting tooth and nail for my place in the starting 11. Tomorrow is my chance to prove myself, give myself some breathing room. I can’t afford to not take it.

I know I can do it, even if I have to do it my way. Even if it’s scrappy play that hails back to the streets and the smooth gym floors instead of my last few seasons on grass.

I’m nervous now, but tomorrow I will take the field—hopefully with the starters—and I will be calm. I always am, no matter how worked up I get before the game. Once the starting whistle blows, everything else fades away. ♦