Fun Facts:
I’m an Eagle Scout.

I’ve been skydiving twice.

I studied abroad in the Yucatan Peninsula.

I’m left-handed but right-footed.

My Story of How I Overcame Being a Small Player

My name is Stephen and I grew up playing soccer in the small town of Mandeville, Louisiana. 

This is my Believe in it® story of how I overcame being a small player to go on to play college soccer. 

I don’t remember my first soccer practice at four years old but my mom says she knew I had fallen in love with the sport at that moment. Growing up my life revolved around playing, watching and talking soccer. I loved the team camaraderie and the challenge it provided to keep pushing myself to improve. 

The only problem was I was always one of the smallest guys on the team. It seemed like everyone I played with or against was bigger, stronger and faster than me. 

I finally got so upset about the unfairness that I wasn’t as physically gifted as the other players that I told my mom I wanted to quit. She listened to me patiently as mothers do and then gave me two options. 

Option 1
I could give up and start a habit of quitting on myself when things were tough. 

Option 2
I stopped focusing on things I could not change and started focusing on improving what was in my control. 

I chose option two and started to focus on improving my ball skills and mental game. Other players might be bigger, stronger and faster than me and I had little to no control of that. What I could control was how much I practiced my ball skills and mental side of the game. 

I was going to be more skilled and mentally quicker than anyone else on the field. I spent a lot of long hours training on my own, getting to practice early and staying late to get extra touches. I would study how the pro players moved on the field and seemed to alway know what pass to make before the ball even got to them. 

Little did I know that come summer going into my Junior year of high school I would grow six inches! Suddenly, I went from being one of the smallest kids on the field to one of the biggest. 

Other players could no longer easily run past me or muscle me off the ball. In fact, I was suddenly dominating the players that I always struggled to keep up with physically. Now that their physical advantage was taken away they could not keep up with the ball skills and quick mental game I had been forced to develop.

I would face many more challenges during my soccer career that left me questioning whether it was worth continuing to play. During each challenge, I would remind myself of the two options that my mom gave me when I was complaining about how unfair my situation was. I can’t tell you it has been the easy choice, but I’m proud to tell you that I have always chosen option two; focus on what I could improve in my control. 

I have always chosen to not give up. 
I have always chosen to focus on what I can control. 
I have always chosen to believe in myself. 

I hope you enjoyed my Believe in it® story and my story can serve as a small piece of inspiration for you in your journey. 

#Believeinit