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Crushed Dreams

Nothing compares to the pain I experienced when I joined the football team and later the head coach told me I couldn't play football for the high school team.

 It all started in the summer of 2001 when my brother Jose a couple of friends, and I would plan games at night because during the days in Italy were too hot to play.

During the summer more and more guys would come out and play but I would be the only girl to play. While other girls were waiting by the phone to get a call from their crushes, I would be at the football field playing football with their crushes. One day after playing football, some of the guys and me walked around the neighborhood talking about what we were going to do when school started back up again. A couple of guys asked me if I was going to come out and play for the high school team. Since I was only one year away from going to high school anyway I told them "Yes" with total excitement in my voice.

They told me since I was in eighth grade that I wouldn't get to travel with them like if they were going to take an airplane, I couldn't go but if they had home games and went to Naples which was about six to eight hour bus ride, I could go.

Later on in the summer the school had a meeting about anyone who wanted to join the football team they should come to the meeting. When I showed up to the meeting there were guys as big as Warren Sapp and as good-looking as Chingy.

When the meeting was over I talked to some of the guys about how they felt having a girl on the team. They seemed too careless because they thought I would be on the team through the whole season. The week after the meeting we started "HELL WEEK" where everyone came two to three practices a day to learn the basics and to learn the techniques.

 After my first week of practice the bashes I took felt like wolves tearing at some raw meat. That Monday, we learned how to run pass plays. Once the quarterback yelled "HIKEE!" I ran out for the pass. Once the football hit my hands it had walked all over my hands when I didn't catch it.

 The next morning, while getting ready to hit the field the head coach pulled me and my parents aside and told us that I couldn't play because they didn't want to have any middle school students to get hurt if they were a part of the high school team. The news hit as if there was a beating going on. I felt like the way he said those words to me were a little devilish and diabolical. The words just rolled off his tongue hit like gunshots straight through my heart. I felt so angry that I wanted to use my skills to break the coach into pieces.

 My feelings were torn apart, snap into two pieces and trampled on. That afternoon, going home I felt like my soul had departed from my body, that I was dead to the world. I wanted to scream my head off, go crazy with my feelings. I just wanted to take an insane risk with my life and try something but no it was crushed by those shrilled words " YOU CAN'T PLAY".

When I got home I took a shower got dressed and left the house to hang out with some friends. When I met up with my friends they told me I was the only one to take a gamble with my life and that they were proud of me that I took the greatest risk in the school year. They told me that it was the teams, lost.

The next year I came out again and got myself a spot on the team.

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