Hi my name is Leticia Oliva and I am on the U16 Arsenal Gold Girls team and have worked my way up from the blue team to the gold through a lot of hard work and dedication. I have put so much work into myself trying to make myself the best person on and off the field and have been voted captain for 3 years in a row.
Right now I am currently in O’ahu, Hawaii and participating in regionals with my team. Wake up call came at 8:30 and breakfast at 8:45. The nerves were starting to kick in and reality was starting to set in. This wasn’t any vacation or at the least any soccer tournament either. This was the beginning of what we had been working for. This was the time that we had to show to everyone what we had been working on for such a long time. Our first game was at 2:00 in the afternoon against the Idaho state champs. We ate our breakfast and had some down time to try to let the nerves settle in our stomach and we were on our way to our 45 minute drive to the fields in a newly found place that we would be battling up and down the fields for our spot to move on. We show up at the fields and set up our cones behind field 13. And it just so happened that the other team set up right next to us for an attempt to intimidate us. Of course that and their bright neon green uniforms didnt have an affect on us. We came out with all we had and battled in the 84 degree weather with a humidity level that made it feel as if it was 95. This all didnt stop us. We came out with a job. Our coach Tracy had prepared us and gave us everything we needed to win and we weren’t about to let us down. We came out strong and kept position pretty much all game and came out on top with a 2-0 win. We were ecstatic and ready to move on to our next step. Our only goal? Move out of pool play and take things one step at a time. We had done all we could for the day and came out with 3 points. This was the start we needed to set a tone off for our trip and first time at regionals. Next step? Some serious sleep!
Fort Collins Soccer Club / Arsenal Colorado 