Young Readers League 2018 Writing Contest
1st place
Category 1 (ages 8-11)
Breck Sequeira
Age 11 (Grade 6), Blair Middle School
“First Goal”
David Manuel follows his dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
Tic-tac-tic-tac-tic-tac. Bouncing back and forth between his feet, keeping it up in the air as if it is defying gravity. David Manuel has been trying to forget about his hometown of Masaya, Nicaragua. He has been in the city of Houston, Texas out in the sun for days now trying to forget. He hasn’t talked to anyone partially because he can’t speak English. He feels like he has been pushed away by his family but he knows that it was important for him to escape the revolution that was happening in his home country.
He started losing the rhythm of the touch of the ball that his family gave him just before he fled the country to escape danger. He kept on thinking to himself, “I’m going to make my family proud.” By saying that, he felt he was bringing himself closer to his goal of becoming a professional soccer player. A goal he had had for as long as he could remember. He believed he could do it, but only with a lot of work, and so he worked harder and harder for years. He ended up impressing several coaches from all over Texas and the rest of the country.
He thought to himself every time he walked onto the field, “Make me proud, make my coach proud, make the sport proud, and especially make my family proud from wherever they are.” He knows his family would be proud of him anyway. After many coaches, many hours of training and dedication, he got a letter inviting him to try out for the Houston Dynamos from the MLS. He just knew this was the first step of many for his career and life. David Manuel went with confidence never looking back from where he started and where he will go.