My name is Mikaela Guerrero, I am 9 years old. I am part of the Corona United U10 soccer team. I am being raised by my mom, Kerry. At times, things are a little sad in my family. My mom and dad got divorced and my mom makes enough money to take care of my 2 sisters and me. At times when things were a little crazy and noisy at my house it was so nice to be able to go to my soccer family. My soccer team always makes me feel better and relaxed. I like spending time with my team because they understand what it means to be there for each other.

My team to me is another family. Sometimes I feel like I spend more time at the soccer field than at my house. We count on each other to play well, but we know even if we don’t win every game we will always have each other. I like all of my teammates because they’re like my sisters now. We have so much fun and a lot of good times together that I couldn’t think of playing any other sport.

My team is amazing! Everyone greets each other, even if you’re late. Whenever I am running the fastest the whole team catches up and runs even faster. During practice, when I score on them they get mad so I say, “Good job”, and everything is fine. My mom, who used to coach me, taught me to be positive about everything, even if our team loses as long as we try our best, we did good. I hope I can play soccer in high school and college.  Sometimes to remind my team, I say what our coach tells us to, “Get on your toes”, because it gets you warmed up. I am a defensive player, I support my team because I’m one of the last players the opposite team players have to get pass so they can score. My position is important because my team counts on me to stop the ball. I encourage my teammates around me by saying helpful things to them during practices and games. I support the ones around me to try to do their best and not give up. I always have a happy attitude around everyone to be an example and not bring the team down. Everybody thanks me for what I have done and I’m proud to be a part of this team.  My cousin, Chloe is going to the Julie Foudy soccer camp and I hope I can go too. If my essay gets chosen I will go stay at my cousin’s house in Orange County. Then we can go to the camp together.  If I get to go to the soccer camp I will learn how to be a better soccer player and that will make me be more help for my team, I will be able to show my soccer sisters what I learned at the camp.