High Hopes and Aspirations

As a side not before reading this, please be aware when I say football I mean real football not American football.

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would give up just about anything else in order to get it? That’s the way I feel about this upcoming soccer season and our quest for a National Championship title with the USAO men’s soccer team.   

In my 3 seasons at USAO we have made some steady but impressive progress, eventually getting to the quarter-finals of last year’s National Tournament. With hindsight, it is difficult to imagine a more enjoyable week in my life than that week spent with my team mates in Orange Beach, Alabama. I’m sure there will be moments in my life which will define me further, the old clichés, the birth of my first child, my wedding day etcetera etcetera. However, as of right now, my life revolves around very simple things; my girlfriend, my friends and family; graduating college; and football.

It has been the one constant, stable and unwavering love since I mastered the ability of walking. I can’t remember a time when football wasn’t a part of my everyday plans and this coming year will be no different. I have spent this summer back home in Scotland, which hasn’t helped to ease my longing to kick a ball again. This country is football crazy, everywhere I look there are young kids playing on the street, or highlights on my TV. It’s impossible to escape the hysteria over here about the upcoming UK football seasons and this makes it impossible for me to not stay awake every night dreaming about my upcoming campaign.

I have spent almost every day this summer down at my local park, working out getting myself in the best condition I think I could possibly be in. It has been a struggle. One reason is, I hate running and I love eating. I’m not one of those naturally fit people that can get away with a couple of jogs each summer and still be match fit in August, I need to work every day to maintain a high level of fitness. There has been no partying and very little drinking from me this summer, ask your average 22-year old Scottish man how much he drank this past summer and you will likely get liver failure just listening to his answer. It has been tough to resist the lure of my friends asking me to join them for a weekly knees-up. But in truth, my nightly dreams have kept me going. That image of a moment of a pure ecstasy this November has dragged me through every run down at the park, every sit-up and every push-up has been made possible by the hope of success.

I don’t claim to be anything more than an average football player at best, in reality, this upcoming NAIA men’s soccer season matters not to 99.9% of the world. But for the small handful of us who do play in this league every fall, it means everything. I don’t sound optimistic without good reason either, USAO has a better than good chance of doing well this year. We have a group of experienced and very hungry players coming back, who I know share my same desire. And I have promised, to myself more than anyone else, to give every last ounce of energy I have into making this coming season the pinnacle moment of my football career.