My Trip to Juventus

It started with my teammates and I getting on the bus in France at the Olympique Lyonnais academy. We had our bags and our passports ready for traveling to a different country. All of the parents were waiting in the parking lot to get ready to say bye to the players. My teammates and I said goodbye to our parents and then we went into the bus. It was dark and early in the morning, around 6:00am. My family and I had woken up at 5:00am and we had gotten ready to leave for my first day trip to Italy. We were heading to play AC Milan and Juventus at the Juventus Academy.

When we got into the bus, we got situated and then we left to get on the highway. I looked out the window for the first hour and then I got out a piece of paper with the things that I wanted to do in the games that I had wrote the night before. A friend of mine, one of the goalkeepers was sitting beside me. I didn't know a lot of French but I did the best I could with some conversations.

When we got there I got out with my team and we went to the lockers to put our bags away. We went up to the top floor and then our coaches called us out to go back downstairs. I didn't understand what he said but my teammates helped and I followed them back down the steps with my younger sister, Winnie. She also had a few games with her team today.

We walked past our bus and past the parking lot and then into a small cafeteria. We all wanted to get in line first to get the food so we all piled into the doors and then we got bunched up and stuck and we couldn't move unless someone went to get a tray and went to the kitchen to get their food. When it was my turn I got a tray and a few utencils and then I went to get some pasta, chicken, water, and fruit along with some cookies. I ate with my sister and then when we had finished we followed our teammates out to a big field. It was the field that I would be playing on today. We watched the Juventus woman's team play while sitting in the bleachers. They were doing a scrimmage and we watched them play. I didn't know who they were at the time but then I realized it when my parents told me. I couldn't recognize the players very well.

When we were done we went to the lockers and got ready to play. When we were finished getting ready, we went downstairs and onto the field. My sister, Winnie, went to the field on the other side where the younger kids were playing and I stayed on the field where the older kids were. We were warming up and after a while I knew that I was going to play great. When we finished warming up I went with my team to the sideline and then we waited to play. I didn't start but I came on a few minutes later. We were playing Juventus first and later we would play AC Milan.

The two teams spoke different languages. Juventus spoke Italian and Olympique Lyonnais spoke French so everyone decided to speak English which is the language I spoke so it was easy for me. When the game started my team was playing well. We were winning with a couple goals. Then I came on about eight or seven minutes in and I played in a few positions. After the first fifteen minute game we played another one. This time I started and I played great. I was doing moves, making great passes, and creating chances. My teammates were doing great as well.

A few plays went by and then came my chance. I made a run down the right side of the field, after my teammates had won the ball on the left wing moving closer to the middle of the field and then my teammate passed me a great ball. I had no one in front of me but someone was behind me, chasing. I stayed calm and then shot it with the inside of my right foot to the far left side net. I was so happy and excited to have scored my first goal in Italy and against Juventus at their academy.

After that goal I felt more confident so I kept trying to score goals. I almost had another chance but I was so tired from running up and down the wing that I couldn't reach the ball to get the shot off. After that, we played AC Milan and then after that we got pictures and candy from the Juventus team. My mom gave me a sandwich to eat in the bus ride home and then Winnie and I asked one of the coaches to take a picture of us in front of the Juventus logo.

We went to the lockers and took our warm showers and then got dressed into warm clothes. It was a freezing cold day and everyone was dressed in winter jackets and hats. We did chants in the shower and they even chanted my name with the coaches. It was really fun. Then we used the restroom and got in the bus. I sat in my own seat this time and I played on my phone with Winnie and two of her teammates. After an hour or two we stopped at a rest stop so that everyone could use the restroom and eat their dinner.

We got back to the Olympique Lyonnais parking lot and then we said bye to our teammates and headed back home in the car. My mom and dad had stopped at the same rest stop earlier and had gotten us candy because they were proud of us. We headed home and then we got ready for bed. As I was falling to sleep I couldn't have been more proud of my performance and I was happy that I had taken advantage of the opportunity and done the best I could.