- 2024 Spotlight
Personal Statement
I was lost, I couldn't concentrate. The final whistle blew, and we went to penalties. Later that day, I scored an outstanding goal from the corner. They passed the ball to me, and from almost half-field, I shot a goal into the top right corner. My confidence was high. We returned to the locker room to recover because we had another game later that day. I was so proud of myself. I thought I could do anything. The next game started, and we all gave our best, but when the final whistle blew it was 0-0, and we went to penalties. I was very nervous because it was something that I had never experienced before. I didn't want to take a penalty. I thought I wouldn't have to, but then my coach said my name, and I experienced a blackout in my mind. I told him I didn't want to take it, but he said, “You scored an extraordinary goal before, you have to shoot.” My sister encouraged me to take the shot. The referee called us to the line-up, and the only thing that kept repeating was that if I didn’t score, the whole team would be disappointed. I let out a desperate breath, I closed my eyes and took 3 steps back, and the only thing that I could hear was the voices of the people outside who wanted to knock me down. I ran up to the ball and shot. I watched the ball go directly to the keeper’s hands. I burst out crying, and my sister ran up to me and said, “Don’t cry, this happens to everyone,” but I was so angry at myself that I couldn’t even hear her. All the confidence that I had gained earlier that day was gone. Since that day I have learned that being under pressure and having the mentality that I am going to fail is not the way to handle it, I had to take another penalty in a final, I didn't want to but I had to, I was so nervous that I started crying and the coach asked me what happened. I said that I was going to miss the penalty and push us away from the win, but then my coach asked me and I said, “The last time I failed, what if I fail again”, he said, “ Hey, Last time, last time is not now”, I marked his words and went to take the penalty. The whistle blew, I took the shot, and the goal went to the top left corner. Since then, my coach's words come to mind every time I feel like I am going to fail. That has taught me that if I dont believe in myself, who will? I learned to handle this type of situation not only in a game but also in school or any other situation.
