Personal Narrative: My First Football Game

It was a casual Saturday for 15-year-old me. I was relaxing at home eating a sandwich while watching random YouTube videos. My parents were at my sister’s JV high school soccer game. Then the phone rang. I was my aunt asking for my parents because something happened to my sister. I was so confused and started asking questions, which my aunt had no information on. Concerned for my sister, I called my parents’ cell phones, soon realizing they both left them at home. There was nothing to do but wait. Not long after, my dad burst into the house with a frantic look on his face. I asked what was wrong. He said four simple words before he rushed out the door, “Your sister is hurt”.

This wasn’t the first-time Katlyn Hochstein got an injury from soccer.

I was stuck in a cast that went past my elbow for 8 weeks.”

After recovering from that, she was ready to get back to playing soccer. The school season had started up and the team was doing great. It was part way through the game when Hochstein collided with the goalie. No one thought anything happened, but when she didn’t up get, people knew something was wrong.

“I had a be taken by ambulance to the hospital because my leg was that bad,” she said. “I had never been in one before which made the whole experience worse.”

After spending a day in the hospital, it was time to come home. She knew that breaking her tibia and fibula in her leg was not going to be an easy recovery. She had a cast and couldn’t walk for weeks.

“At first I didn’t know how I was going to do it,” she said. “Breaking my arm wasn’t that bad. I was still capable for doing most things by myself, but after breaking my leg, I realized how much I needed to depend on people for

I needed someone to help me with everything. I learned very quickly through this whole experience that I am a very stubborn person.”

Hochstein said she also learned that it is okay to ask people for help. “Asking for help should not being seen as a weakness. No one is going to think less of you if you need help with something.”

When asked what kept her going, she said she didn’t want to give up on something she loved. Hochstein had been playing soccer for over seven years, and she didn’t want to throw it all away because of a few injuries. She also wanted to prove to everyone that injuries don’t define you. She came back from two horrible injuries, yet, still made the varsity team the following year.

She was scared at first that her performance wouldn’t be at the level it used to be. With having those injuries, she was out for the rest of the spring season and the whole summer season. She hadn’t had as much practice and training compared to her other teammates, but she still pushed through and ended up winning state that for the first time in Waunakee