Brazil by Daniela Zepeda

I look back at those pictures we last took as a team. The team that stayed together through tough times, the team who motivated each other to do better. It was the same team that accepted me in even if I was the only girl that was going to play with them. It was called Brazil. Before I decided to join this team that would later become my second family I would go watch how they played. I remember in the last game I came to watch them play I went up to Jando, the couch, and asked him if I would be able to join them in their next games as one of the players and he told me it was fine. I felt a rush of delight as I heard him say I would be part of Brazil. Being the only girl in the team my couch would push me to do better than the guys. In practice he would give me advice and would tell me not to give up. And the one thing that would stick with me was his strong personality. He was a crazy couch always yelling, singing, and dancing to celebrate each goal we made. That was one of the reasons I tried my best because I wanted to make him proud of having a girl in his team. He would pay us every time we scored and take us to eat after a great game. He dedicated his time to us and that’s what I loved about Jando. I grew love towards my teammates and my couch. We had times when we played so bad and we would get mad at each other but what team doesn’t fight. But even in those bad times my couch would keep his pride up and cheer us up to keep doing better. One of the ways I remember he would boost our confidence was by yelling at the guys and saying, “Even a girl can play better than that!” In some way it made me push myself harder. Knowing I’m playing better than a guy is an accomplishment for me. That last game we had was our finals. I gave it my all and I showed my couch why I came into this team. I scored four times in a row, two were shot right in the top left corner, one with my head, and another was a soft kick that rolled right thru the goal’s legs. My team was going crazy! Jumping up and down and screaming. That day I felt like I made my couch very proud of his only girl in Brazil.