By MAK SOUTHERLAND
Sheridan High School Student
Editor’s note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade honors English class, taught by Tanya Busailah.
I enjoy spending time with family and friends and playing sports. I’ve always loved soccer, and when I was little, I played it through the rec program at Sheridan.
There was one season when I was in sixth grade when we won every single game and won our end-of-season tournament. That was an amazing time and one of my favorite memories from rec soccer! We had an amazing team that year and playing with that team was so fun.
I played in this program from the time I was four years old through eighth grade, and it was amazing. The program is divided into five groups: U6, U8, U10, U12, and U14. We would play games on the weekends at the Noblesville United Soccer Club and practice on the weekdays at Sheridan.
I love this rec program because it gave me a place to play up until high school. We would do a spring season and a fall season. I still love to help out with this program. I refereed the U8 games that were held at Sheridan the past few years, and I helped coach the one of the U6 teams. It’s an amazing program. All of the coaches are volunteers who are helpful and caring for their players and the game.
This program brought me many new friendships. I was playing rec soccer before I was even in school, so that made going to Kindergarten easier because I already knew some people. I met many amazing people through this program, some of whom I probably wouldn’t have met if we didn’t play soccer.
This program taught me so many valuable skills and lessons, soccer and non-soccer related. I learned how to work on a team with others, how to be a leader and how to help others. I learned about practicing how you play and how to improve every day.
We played in a Noblesville league because we didn’t have enough people to form our own. Since we played in a Noblesville league, we loved to represent Sheridan and wear our Sheridan jerseys. However, there was one season where we had to wear Noblesville jerseys and we all hated it. We loved to show that we were from Sheridan, and wearing the Noblesville jerseys made that hard. Eventually, we were able to switch back to our red jerseys, thankfully.
My first time playing soccer was in this league. I was four years old playing on the U6 team. As I grew, I just moved up into the older leagues and continued playing and loved it. There was a time when we had one season in which our team lost every single game, but we bounced back the next season and won every game we played. We went on to win our end-of-season tournament, too. Those two seasons had a big impact on me because it showed that putting the work in after knowing what taking those losses is like can really make a difference. We learned resilience that year and how to not quit because even though losing every game was awful, it paid off in the long run.
Being part of the soccer team has not only improved my athletic skills but has also shaped my personal values in ways I wasn’t expecting. Through the highs and lows of our season, I learned the importance of discipline, respect, and communication. Whether it was staying dedicated to practice or supporting each other during rough games, I started to understand the power of working toward a common goal and putting the team before my individual achievements.
This program taught me to love soccer at a young age. It’s my favorite sport and every season just made me love it more. Our team bonded very well, we were friends on and off the field, and we always had each other’s backs. I improved my soccer skills, and it shaped who I am today. I’m so thankful for my time in our rec league, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to play!