Jordan Parker

It was a Sunday morning like any. I brushed my teeth, grabbed a banana and packed my book bag with my cleats, a water bottle, shin guards and a jersey. However, I set it back down. I remembered that this week my normal team didn’t play and that I was picked up by friend Mauricio and his family. My heart started pumping as I felt a sense of nervousness however, it was quickly replaced with excitement. “I’m leaving Ma” I said as I opened the door. My nose was met by the nasty smell of the hallway as my ears filled with the chime from the bells on top of the door. 

         As I walked out the door of the building the crisp, cool spring breeze hit my face serving as a reminder that the warm spring days hadn’t come yet. I walked to the bus stop with a sense of urgency as the transit app had said it was two minutes away. Luckily the bus driver saw me in his peripheral vision and stopped the bus before it was able to pull away. I sat listening to music dozing off along the way, my body trying to make up for the lack of sleep the night before. My body woke itself up feeling the familiar turn when reaching the field and a rush through adrenaline ran through my body. As I made my way up the hill whose steep incline felt like a 90° angle I heard the shouts of players from the game which preceded ours.

            “Yoo what’s good bro.” Mauricio had spotted me and called my name.

            “That’s who we playing?” I asked, looking at the group of guys warming up on the side of the pitch passing the ball between each other.

            “Yea they’re fake nice, I used to play with a couple of them.” He replied.

            He handed me the jersey we were using and pointed me in the direction of the bench we were using. I headed towards it and started getting ready.  As I sat there for a while I soon realized that not a single word of English had been spoken the whole time I was getting ready for the game. It seemed to slip my mind that Mauricio was Mexican. With my limited knowledge of Spanish I knew communicating would be a challenge. 

            When warming up I felt a little out of place being the only one not speaking Spanish, in fact I was completely non verbal. Growing up I was always taught that communication is a core and essential part of the sport and throughout my years of experience I saw how effective it was. Thinking that I was going to have to play without it lowered my confidence which was another crucial part of the sport. However, as we continued playing I began to pick up on some of the words and phrases they were saying. Things like “medio”, “cambia” and “otra vez” were shouted frequently.

            When the game eventually started I had grown comfortable with my team. Because I wasn’t able to converse with them, they began to call me Trent. After the professional football player Trent Alexander Arnold because of our similar physical appearance and we played position. However, I could tell by their tone that they weren’t saying to make fun but instead as a way to communicate more easily. As the game went on I continued to pick up on more phrases like “dale” when telling me to dribble or shoot and “saca la” when they wanted me to clear the ball out. After the first half we were able to gain a 2-0 lead and we huddled. While I wasn’t able to understand what they were saying they still grabbed me and put me in the huddle making me feel welcomed on the team. When the second half started we were determined to hold onto our lead. We continued to play and at one point I heard my teammate shout “cambia” hearing this I looked up and played the ball across the field. One of the other defenders smiled at me acknowledging that I understood what our teammate said. After the second half ended we once again got together this time celebrating our 2-0 victory. The celebration was similar to all the other times I’ve celebrated after a game, the same smell of sweat, the same labored breaths and the same smiles on faces.

            This story reminded me of the power that sports have on people. Despite me not speaking the same language as my teammates through the understanding and passion we have for soccer we were able to communicate. Not just communicating, I was able to create new relationships with people that I couldn’t even have a proper conversation with. It shows the importance of sports and how communication doesn’t have to just be verbal.