Abnel

While working with CHAMPS and the Board of Education at a free clinic for middle school soccer teams on Randall's Island, I met Abnel. My afternoon group consisted of fifteen kids, girls and boys, from PS 52 in Queens. As they semi-circled around me, I had each of them announce their name and one piece of information about themselves. Abnel was first. "My name is Abnel and I'm lazy". His rectangular framed glasses outlined his chubby little cheeks perfectly. He smiled as he announced his laziness, as if proud. For some reason I almost brushed him off as one of my least favorites because of his honest confession, alongside Christina, who asserted that she hated competition. But I soaked in the variety of their personalities as best as possible before warming them up for their afternoon of soccer.
Kids are terrified of being the kid left standing all alone after being ordered to "find a partner". Abnel found it was his fate to face that fear in our second drill. Perhaps he was too lazy to find a partner. I took him under my wing and used him--without any knowledge of his skill level--as the example for each drill. And this is when Abnel began to teach me.
I was having them practice volleys with their partners, and Abnel put every ounce of his being into bettering himself. He tried anything I put on his plate: right, left, knee to volley. And he performed each task with such focus and determination that I knew he trusted and respected me. I was so grateful for his effort that I continued to give him one challenge after another. Between each mistake he would apologetically murmur a sorry and I kept confirming that he was getting better with each try. I saw him growing right before my eyes.
Later, after an hour and a half of drills, we had the opportunity to play teams from other Middle Schools. Halfway through our first game, Abnel came waddling up to my side. It was only then that I realized he'd been missing for the last 20 minutes. After asking him where he had gone during our game he said, "I saw a food truck". Abnel's just a lazy kid after all, I thought. But it humored me more than I'm sure it would humor any other coach. I let him sit the first game in order to let his new food sit.
And the bright and shining moment of my day getting to know Abnel was when he said bye to me, and told me that he wished that I was their soccer coach. Those are the peaks of my moments coaching soccer. Every other moment is just bliss.