The Impossible Victory.
Raj Bhandari
Where is everyone? I asked myself. It was 4 o'clock in the morning of a small parking lot in Concord New Hampshire where me and my teammates gather up for our first soccer tournament together. I had been to soccer tournaments to many different states and Canada as well, but it was their first time with me. After all, 18 of my teammates came together We all got into 4 different cars and left towards the same destination. Burlington, Vermont. It was 6:30 in the morning when all of us got to the field, "Alright everyone is here now, so gather your stuff and let's head to the field" I said. "Aye Aye Captain" said Ram. We all got out bags with our equipment in it and walked towards the field. We were the first team to get to the field, everyone looked at me and gave me the look that clearly said, "don’t you think we’re a little early?” It wasn't what I expected would have happened, "It is out very first soccer tournament together, I didn't want to mess anything up for you guys. Better early then late," I said. Everyone was little annoyed that we got there early in the morning, so they all started sitting down on the ground and relaxed.
"What's your plan now captain?" Prem said. "Well let's gear up, it's a big day for us today". No one said a word since every one of them were excited about the games ahead. I took
the jerseys out and told my teammate to
choose a number they like. It was just a
matter of time till all the jerseys were worn by each player. As some of the players started kicking the ball here and there, others just sat there relaxing.
After about half an hour in the field other teams started showing up in the fields and the organizers. Many people started showing up as time went. Our game was the second match of the tournament which allowed us to see how tough other teams might be. We sat and watched their first game till the half time. “Alright guys put your cleats on, our game is after this so we need to warm up” I said. Everyone grabbed their backpack and started putting their cleats on, so did I. We went to another field where we could warm up for our next game. We started doing our drills as we jog and warm ourselves up. I told the guys to get into a circle around so we could stretch our legs and our body. “Let’s count to 10 everyone” I said, and we all started stretching. We did little drills with the ball as other team were almost finished with their game. A guy with a paper on his hand came to our group and asked “who’s the captain here on this team? “. Everyone pointed towards me and he said, “your team is up next, after this game finishes”. I said “Alright! Thanks for the head ups”. I called my teammates as the game finished on the other field and we heard someone say, “Our next game is Concord New Hampshire vs Vermont.” We got in the field and I called my team mates over in the middle and told them to huddle up. “Alright guys” I said. “This is it. Our first tournament together so please everyone give your 100%. If you’re tired there are subs outside. Play like you’ve never played before. Alright THOP on 3. One, two, three. THOPPP.” Thop was the name of our team, means tank in Nepali, which is my native language. We got our self-positioned in the field, as I positioned myself as a striker and the referee started the match. I thought the first game would be hard but it was quite the opposite, we