Martin Taylor:
It all began when I was a kid, I grew up watching those stars on TV my whole city idolizing them and I wanted to be like that. I wanted to represent a country, a team, in my eight year old mind there wasn't better joy.
I mean it didn't get any better than that I played a sport for a living and won a lot of money, easy enough right?
Boy was I wrong.
After watching that world cup with my father I decided my fate. Now, I didn't come from a very athletic family, I was the middle child and while my brother did a bit of this and a bit of that he never really encouraged me to play any type of sport. It was those men on the pitch scoring goals and celebrating that convinced me.
Since then, I worked hard, I wasn't good at many things but in soccer I couldn't go wrong. Don't even ask me how I passed high school because even I don't know, I wasn't the smartest or the fastest but damn did I have determination.
When I hit 16, I lost track of things. My parents were going through a really ugly divorce, my siblings were moving away. Everything was moving too fast and I lost myself along the way. I hung out with the wrong crowd, being popular on the soccer team lead the wrong people to me. I smoked some of this and that and I had no idea where I was headed in life, I was a mess.
"Get your crap together, Martin! This is your final warning or you're out"
Those were the words that snapped me out of that trance, if you could call it that. That and the fact that a teammate, John O'Neill, saved me from myself. I ended up in the hospital with alcohol intoxication my parents by my side crying that I realized I was more than this.
The next day I got that visit from John who talked more sense into me. We were playing championship matches and in a couple of days we were due for the final, something I had caused with my reoccurring goals.
I had caused something big for a small high school team, a victory that hadn't happened for more than 2 decades and I could cause big things according him, and I did.
YOU ARE READING
Half way there
RomanceMartin Taylor is one of those men who grew up with a hard childhood but that didn't stop him from becoming successful. His best friend is getting married, he's scoring goals and leading his team to victory. He's having fun, going out, the typical 25...
