The year of 2014 was the year I had the chance to participate in the tournament Asomex. Asomex is a soccer tournament in which people from around state of Mexico get to participate. It was out first time participating in it and this time the Asomex took place in Pachuca, Coahuila. This would be a very hard tournament since many schools with great soccer teams were participating. Schools in Monterrey and schools also around our city such as Mexico City, Torreon and many others. It would be a very exciting trip. The boys’ team also would come with us to represent the boys’ team. We flew to Mexico City and from there, we went on a bus that transported us to Pachuca. The bus went as slow as a turtle but hours later we got there. Since the beginning, I knew that this trip would be a very fun trip, but also an intense one because I knew my coach would push us hard to make it to the finals. Every time after the game we got to have a team-talk to see what we could improve on and also the Coach got to talk to us for about 5 minute about what he thought and what would make us improve. The days were really sunny, the sun shined as bright as a diamond. Each day we grew more tired since the games were more decisive. My team and I realised that if we kept working hard we could make it to the finals.

It all begins with the four intense games we played that would determine if we got to the to the semi-finals that would lead us to the final. We played all the games to the best of our ability and as the coach told us “Play like it would be the final”. We were all having a great, but exhausting time. We played the three games and we did classify to the semi-final. The semi-final was the next day along with another game. Next day, we woke up early and got ready to go to the game. We won the semifinal in penalties. We did struggle to win but the struggle was worth it. Coach proudly told us that we did really good. We were all looking forward to the next day. After we got to the hotel, we each went to our rooms. We took the day to rest, because the next day would be the final, and a good rest would help us play it to our best.

It was hours away from the final. I had butterflies in our stomach. It would be a very exciting thing for my team and I to win our first Asomex. Millions of thoughts were going through my head. “What if it was all to me to score the goal and I fail it?” “What if.. What if.. What if...” was all I could think about. I tried to get a little distracted since there were hours until the game, I told myself to worry about it when the time came. Hours passed, and it was now the final day game. Each hour I got more nervous about it. I didn’t want to have the game yet. I was really anxious to know the final score. Later we all went down to the lobby to begin to prepare and start getting ready to go to the buses. When we got into the football field, I started to stretch and started to touch the ball because the game was about to start. We were 5 minutes away from starting the game. My hand started to sweat and my heart started to beat like 1,000 per second. “Give it to the best of you ability, I know you can do it!” Coach insisted and insisted to us. The coach told us who would be playing at the begin and the changes he would begin to make later. We all got into our positions and got ready for the game to start. The other team did the same. The referee began to walk into the field. 10 seconds later, the game began. The AIM, the team we were playing against, was playing very roughly since they too wanted to be the champions. After a rough break, we noticed that they were giving their best, and we could be doing better. Our score board was still 0-0, and the last thing we wanted was to go to penalties. I looked at the bleachers, where there were people cheering and watching us play. All eyes were on us. Thats when I knew that losing in front of all those people wasn’t an option.
PIIIIT.. the referee blew with his whistle. We all looked down, we were actually really disappointed. We slowly walked to where the coach was, the coach wasn't really happy about it, but he didn't want to make us feel more down. Coach told us that we had to go to the hotel to get a bath and come back to where we were for the closure of the tournament We disappointed grabbed our things and went into the bus. I could only hear the other team screaming and really excited since they had one 1st play in the tournament, we were in 2nd and that was very excited for us but not as much as winning the whole tournament. The coach shared jokes, trying to make us laugh, but we were unconsolable. We got to the hotel and we all went to our rooms. I finished packing, grabbed my things, took a bath and went back to the lobby about an hour later. We would go to the closure and then we would grab the bus to head back to Monterrey again that same day. In the closure, they announced the third place and then the second place.

“In second place for the girls category ‘Monterrey’. We all screamed and went for out trophy and for our medals. We were proud of having the second place. When the ceremony ended we all got into the bus and straight to the Mexico DF airport.

From this trip I took away many things: as a team, we noticed the importance of being united and of teamwork.We got to know each other better and unite more as a team. This story is worth telling since it was very hard for us to lose our first Asomex final, we were all really down but we learned to overcome and that we won't always get it. I learned to always give my best even though we won't always get the best but the effort will always be worth it. The importance of this experience was the team. The teamwork we got to make while we were on the trip and the quality time we had together. We got to be really disconnected and being more outside and in the world. Since that trip, I realized that you don't need to always get the 1st place to feel the best. I also learned that effort plays a huge role in life since effort is one of the keys to success for me. This has affected me in a good way since now I have learned and this year in soccer I have improved my mistakes I did the last Asomex. This year we will get to participate in another ASOMEX tournament and we hope that we do the same but even better.