Sitting in our locker room an hour before this is due and all I can think is how in the world did we make it here, and wow I really need to work on my time management skills!! As I sit here I can't help but wonder what am I going to do next week, next month, next year when I no longer have to wake up at 6am for workouts, ride a bus 8 hours to Concordia, or come to school two weeks early for preseason; who am I without this sport? Soccer has been at the forefront of my life since I was 4 years old, and through this sport I have found not only myself, but my best friends as well. Starting with Carrera I grew up with a group of 8 girls from U8 all the way to U18. These girls. Kate, Morgan, Hannah, Emily, Sarah, Maddy, Syd, and Liv are part of the reason I have stuck with the sport for so long. We grew up in the sport, and we grew up together as sisters and I will never forget that and all of you. As I look back on the past 17 years of my life in this sport there are many people to thank and acknowledge for pushing me to become the person and the athlete I am today.
First, I must thank you Anna Alioto: My best friend, the one who pushed me everyday to get better and to be better. When we both got hurt my junior year, your senior of high school, you never once let me put my head down. Since the day you left this earth I have dedicated every game, every practice, every moment to you. You are the reason I am still in this sport, and the reason that I am still fighting. I wish so many things were different but the thing I wish for most is that we could have had more time; more time to play the sport we both love, more time to experience college together, and just more time to live. But for now I will continue to play for you, and live out your memory through the sport we both love so much, until we meet again.
Mom and Dad: You two are the most important people in my life, and I have so much love for the two of you I can't even put it into words how much you two mean to me. Thank you for everything you have done for me and for Tyler. Your unconditional love has gotten me through times that I thought I would never make it through, and for that I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for sacrificing your own social lives to drive me every weekend to and from soccer, for going cross country with the team, and for taking in my teammates as your own daughters. I could go on and on about all you've done for me, and how much it all means to me, but for now thank you and I love y’all to the moon and back!!
Coaches:
Neil: OH BOY have we had quite a ride over these past four years. First off, I would like to start by thanking you for feeding my gum addiction, maybe one day I will pay you back for that! Thank you for always believing in me and never giving up on me despite my attitude, and both of our stubborn personalities clashing at times. I will miss making fun of your accent on a daily basis, and just giving you a hard time in general. Thank you for allowing me to continue to do what I love to do, and bringing all of us together as a family.
Silver Fox: Thank you for always being a mediator for coach and I, and for always being there for me. I will never forget when you asked me if I could play tennis, and then proceeded to put me on the team here; as bad as I was I had a lot of fun with it! Your enthusiasm and positive attitude do more for this team then you will ever know, and I thank you for that. I will miss you and you and your crazy dance moves.
Tim and Peter: You two are more than coaches to me, you are my family. I can't thank you two enough for shaping us girls into strong young women and supporting us on and off the field. I miss our road trips, hotel stays, state tournaments, and all those weekend in Jeff city growing up; those years have shaped me into the player I am today. For every high school game even though you no longer coached us, I always knew you two would be in the stands cheering us on and that meant the world to me. I miss you two greatly and I wouldn't be where I am today without y’all.
Seniors: WOW guys we really did it, started with 12 ended with 6 and I'm so happy I have you all. These past four years for us 6 have been such a roller coaster, I can't thank you girls enough for riding it the whole way with me.
Anna: You are one of a kind my friend. Who knew that the shy and quiet Anna Taylor who came to our team freshman year would try out to be the loudest, craziest, and most supportive person on our team, and our captain. Thank you for always being a best friend to me and I am so excited to see where this life takes us. Forever and always Annal.
Emma: I am so so so thankful how close we have become over the last four years. You just get me, I will never forget all our of crazy times together. You mean so much to me and I can't wait to live out the rest of this year with you!! Thank you for alway being there for me!
Ellen: El we have had our ups and our downs but I am so happy to be ending on such a great senior year together. Thank you for all you do for this team, and all of the work you put in. You are a great player and I know that you will go far with whatever you choose to do in life. Thank you for being my friend these past four years!
Bridge: I could write a novel to you my dear. Living and playing along side you for the last four years has been amazing. Thank you for all the late night tears and midnight drives, the endless hours of talking about nothing and everything in our room, and for being my best friend. I don't know what I would have done these past four years without you and I'm glad I will never have to. Love you long time sister.
Mar: You’re my person Mar. These past four years you have been there for every single high and every single low and you have made me a better friend and a better person. I am so glad we got the chance to play the sport we love these past four years and even though it is ending we can now turn ourselves from Subaru's into Ferraris ;) I know this is not where our friendship ends and I am so excited to see where we go after SMU. Forever and ever xoxo.
Juniors: I remember when your class came in and it took me forever to learn all of your names since there are just so many of you! You guys came in and really helped to build this team up. I appreciate every single one of you ladies and I wish we had more time together but I am so thankful for the time we’ve had thus far. I know that you will all do great things on and off of the field both here at SMU and in your lives. Enjoy the time you have, it goes by very quickly trust me! I love y’all!
Sophomores: You guys came in and made an immediate impact on this whole team. Last year we one of our best on the field and it was thanks to your hard work and dedication to bettering this program. I have grown close to all of you, and can't thank you enough for what you guys have and continue to do for this team. Keep working hard and I am sure that y’all will start to see results in the future. I will miss you all greatly, and I can't wait to see all that you accomplish!
Freshmen: I hope you all had a great first season on this team, and I hope you all know how much you mean to us seniors. You guys bring a spark to this team and even though this hasn't been a great season your energy has kept the whole team going. I’m glad that I have gotten to know each of you and the chance to live out my last season with y’all. Lots of love freshies!
Cripples: Sarah and Maddy—You two have gotten me through the last three weeks and I cannot thank you enough for that. You never let me give up, and kept me laughing the entire time which has helped so much with my recovery. I love you two so much and I can't wait for you to both be back on that field!!! Thank you!
I am very sad that my journey here at SMU, and on the field, are ending but I am so thankful for all of you for making it such a great journey. As Pooh said “ How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Thank you for everything all of you have done for me.
All my love,
Aubs
