Soccer Success
The first vivid memory that I have of Coach Omar was getting a soccer ball thrown as
hard as possible directly at my face. It was the summer before going into third grade and I was
playing for a C2 team, which was essentially the “B” team at the time. All the parents knew me
as that kid who fools around in the goal; hanging from the goal posts, lying on the ground, and
stretching. Then, I was asked to play a game for Coach Omar’s team, the best team in our city,
because they needed a goalkeeper. I only played for him one other time, about a week earlier due
to an identical situation. The only impression that he left on me at the time was that he could
deafen anyone from a mile away with his booming voice. The man scared me to death. I don’t
think he stopped screaming at the team the entire match. I could see spit spray out of his mouth
from where I was standing in the goal. It’s no shock that I was a more than a little terrified when
