I had played for Mountain View Los Altos soccer club for more than 10 years. In the past five years, I had gone through several coaches, most of them taking my charismatic personality too lightly. Although I had always remained serious about the game, I felt that I had never been taken seriously. I saw a hole within our team, one that needed to be filled urgently by someone who could motivate our players, make executive decisions, give order to our team and maintain a positive atmosphere. It took me a long moment to realize that that person should be me. Feeling a sudden responsibility towards my team, I decided to play the role of captain despite not having been given the actual title. I started slowly, by doing things such as leading the warm-up, hoping to gain my team’s respect before stepping into such an important role. In my Last season, after a couple seasons of gradual improvement and building stronger bonds with my teammates, my coach decided to award me the official title of captain. Although, when it came, I was neither shocked nor surprised. I had already come to the realization that I did not need my coaches to validate what made me “captain worthy,” I had just needed to believe in myself.
