The Soccer Dream

The Tryout

It was the first day of the tryouts for the Yellow Jackets soccer club. Aja was so excited. She got ready by putting her shin guards and sneakers on. She got a bag ready. The bag had a water bottle, cleats, and a soccer ball. Before she left, she started writing her diary entry for the day.

Dear Diary,

I love soccer and I am good at it. Today and the weeks to come will determine if I am really good. Today is the start of the tryouts. I heard that there will be 50 girls trying out for the U-10 team. I am one of them. All of the girls are from the Northeast. I am nervous for the tryouts. I know that I should be happy that I was considered to play for one of the top clubs in the country. I felt happy that my friends were asked to try out as well. I learned that on the last day of the first week 13 players will be cut. I am hoping that I am not one of those unlucky players. My mom wished me the best of luck and supported me. I will write more when I get home.

She arrived at the field where the tryouts were taking place. The players were separated into age groups including U-10, U-12, U-14, and U-16. The U16 group had about 50 girls. On the Yellow Jackets' U16 team, there were 15 spots up for grab. Aja's group had 50 girls. There were only 4 players on the current U-10 team so there were 18 spots open. At the end of the first week, there would be 10-20 girls cut from the running to be on each team. There would be 12 for U-12, 20 for U-14, and 10 for U-16. For Aja's team, there would be 13 players cut.

It was time for tryouts to begin. Aja and the other potential players did a warm-up lap around the field. After the lap, they did stretches. Elizabeth and the head coaches of the each team were there. After the stretches, they did conditioning and drills. After the conditioning and drills, the U-10 team head coach decided to have a juggling championship. The head coach was named Megan.

Megan told them that the top 10 finalists would be on an all-exclusive juggling team. Aja hoped to be in top 10. Aja was an awesome juggler. The top 20 finalists included Maggie, Morgan, Courtney, and Cassidy. Aja and Carly both were still in as well. One by one, 10 girls were eliminated. Five of the top ten girls included Cassidy, Morgan, Maggie, Courtney, and Carly. Aja was officially on the All-Star U-10 Juggling team with the Yellow Jackets. Aja heard that the next day there would be a juggling invitational. This would be Aja's first test. The local juggling club teams would be competing in the state-wide juggling competition. The top 5 competitors would move on to the Northeast Regional championship. They did some drills then Aja went home then wrote in her diary.

Dear Diary,

It went very well at the tryouts. I think I made a good first impression. I was so excited that I was one of the qualifiers for the All-Star Juggling tournament. This will be my first-ever juggling competition. I did it for fun. I hope to make it to the Regional Championship. The coaches from the Yellow Jackets will base their decision on how we do at the Juggling competition. The juggling competition is on Friday. The announcement of who was moving on to the next week of tryouts will be after a scrimmage and the juggling competition. I think I will make it to the next week of tryouts. I am glad that my friends made the tryouts with me. I am hoping all of us will make the team. I might be in pain but it is worth it.

Aja was ready for the Juggling competition on Saturday. She had practiced 2 hours each day after tryouts. Her friends practiced with her. It was the day of the juggling competition. 10 teams were divided into groups of 10 and there were 100 competitors. One group at a time would try to juggle a soccer ball as long as they could. The top 2 from each group would move on to the semifinals. Aja's group was first. Aja lasted 2:25 and Jessica lasted 2:23 so Aja won her group and moved on to the semifinals. Jessica came in second so off to the semifinals for her as well. Carly and Morgan also made the semi-finals. Maggie missed the semifinals by a whole second. In the semifinals, there were 20 players competing for 10 spots in the final.

It was time for the semifinals to begin. The 20 finalists were divided 2 groups of 10. The top 5 from each group would be in the final. Aja was in the same group as Morgan and Jessica. Aja was happy to be in the same group as her friends. Aja's group was first up. Aja was first up for her team. Aja juggled for a time of 5:56. She missed the national record by just 10 seconds. She would definitely be in the final. The top 10 were Aja, Morgan, Jessica, Emily, Elise, Carly, and 4 other girls.

The finals were after a scrimmage. The scrimmage would put the top 10 against the other 10 finalists. Maggie was on the other team. The scrimmage would 2 10-minutes halves with a 5-minute water break. The scrimmage would be 7-on-7. One goalie per team which makes it 8-on-8. The goalie of Aja's team was Taylor. Taylor was a star goalkeeper on her team. There were 8 goalies trying out but only 3 will make the team. The scrimmage was over in half an hour. It was time for the finals. In a hour, the finals were over.

The top 5 were Morgan(2:45), Aja(2:46), Emily(2:55),Carly(3:02) and Jessica(3:10). Taylor and Alex rounded out the top 7. Their times were 3:55 and 4.05, respectively. Aja was really happy that she finished in 2nd place out of 100 competitors. In a hour, it was time for the announcement.