BC Soccer: Confidence

Each of us has that one thing that we’re really good at, maybe it’s solving complex math equations like it’s nothing or painting masterpieces, but whatever it is, we are able to really shine and others are able to notice. I won’t claim to be an amazing soccer player, and I do have other strengths, but soccer is one sport that I am confident in my abilities and sure of my skills. In soccer there isn’t a defined way to measure ability because there are so many different roles to be played; someone could be an All-State defender but not be able to score a goal even if they were right in front of the net.

On my high school team I played defensive-mid and I measured my ability by beating my opponent to the ball or winning a header or being able to control the middle better than the other team’s midfield. The satisfaction that came with an individual win was one of my favorite parts of a game. My coach once referred to being beat by the other player as “being second best” and I never wanted to be second best, and over the years I was able to gain confidence—I knew that I could win the ball and I would. Now, however, I’m in a different position and I haven’t had any years prior to build on my skills and be confident in them. Half the time I have no idea what I’m doing; sometimes that works, sometimes not so much. The other half of the time…well I still really don’t know what I’m doing.

It’s hard to have a lasting confidence boost when one minute you make a great save and the next minute you get scored on. It’s hard to feel good about having a good game when the team still loses. But you can’t give up, because eventually that confidence and skill will come before you know it, and you might even break some records in the process. I was able to beat the previous record of most saves in a game and this coupled with constant encouragement from my teammates has helped me from feeling lost and uncomfortable to just a little lost at times but confident.