The Magic Soccer Ball

Jenel Moise

March 14, 2017

ESL 100

The Magic Soccer Ball

         I know every country around the world plays soccer, but in Haiti soccer is a kind of religion. Soccer is the most popular sport played in Haiti, and I have been a part of that culture for many years. I have taken a lot of pleasure playing soccer with my friends. When I had spare time, I liked to walk to the soccer field, and I used to watch all the games of my favorite soccer team when it played in National Championship League. However, in the United States, soccer is not one of the popular sports people love to play. I feel that I have entered in a new life without the magic soccer ball. Now I am in Chicago, I am dramatically missing my football companions and my favorite Haitian soccer team.

             When I was in Haiti, I often went to play every weekend. My football companions gathered together to play with the magic ball. Playing a soccer game with friends filled our days with passions. Because this is the best time to dispel our sorrows and pains, we would have a victory over our social needs. My football friends and I have been delighted as much as we can. Most of the time people sat on a bench starring at us playing soccer, and our hearts were happier after playing the magic soccer ball. Since I have been in Chicago however happiness has invaded me and I feel my mind is on one of the Haitian soccer field. In Chicago, I have only gone to a soccer field twice. I can only imagine that I was in Haiti.

             In addition, I loved watching my favorite football team in Haiti because they play as well as the Brazilian National soccer men’s team. They circulate the ball perfectly well. I can’t even miss a game. For this reason, I downloaded the National Championship app on my Smartphone to stay connected everywhere my team has to play. In the United States, soccer is not prestigious like baseball. Even though I went to two different soccer fields in Chicago nearby my apartment, I felt uncomfortable to watch people who do not play like professionals. A few months later while I was watching a soccer game, some friends asked me to play with them. It was a great experience because it was the first time that I was playing soccer among new friends in Chicago. 

           Even though I like to play soccer, my favorite part of this sport is watching and supporting my friends when they play. One day when my new friends wanted me to be in their team again. Every time I had the ball, I never thought with a such feeling that I was playing that I was in the United States. I had the sensation of the magic ball bouncing around the field. My Haitian football friends and I used to play soccer all the time, everywhere. There is a lot of attraction by playing soccer during night in the streets. Sometimes we even played soccer under the pouring rain. However, I have more satisfaction when I am watching a soccer game because every time I lost a game, I felt frustrated, and I don’t want to talk to anyone. Sitting on a bench and watching the game, however, was better because then, the team that won didn’t bother me.
             In sum, playing soccer demands strong physical engagement. Since I came to Chicago, I feel that I do not exist. I began to realize soccer is the most important attraction in my life. I wish I can go hang out with my friends every weekend, and play a soccer game. In some countries soccer is a kind of religion. Soccer could be one of the elements that combined to decrease social racial and differential.