Little eyes are watching.

So there is this park just up the street from my house. It's called Woodland Park. Next to the tennis courts there is a little fenced in rectangle with a big wall dividing it in half. It is used by tennis players to hit the ball off the wall to practice their hitting. So even if you don't have a partner, you can still play tennis. Boring, right?

Anyway...I, of course, use this wall for soccer purposes rather than tennis. I like to go up there and just shoot the ball against the wall. Yes I know I'm a dork. No worries.

I was up there one evening last summer just juggling and shooting the ball against the wall. I noticed a little girl and her father watching me. She was leaning up against the fence, her eyes as wide as can be. Just watching. Mesmerized. They watched me shoot this soccer ball, over and over again against the wall, for about twenty minutes.

I decided to walk over and talk to them. I introduced my self and found out that she was 10 years old and played travel soccer for a team in Lexington. They were asking me about myself. I told them where I grew up and that I played soccer for UK. This little, adorable, 10 year old girl looked up at me like I was famous. Seriously. I go to school and play soccer and this little girl thought I was freaking Mia Hamm.

I invited her to come out on the court and play some soccer with me. She was a little shy and said, "no." haha, but then her dad urged her a bit and she eventually came out on the court with me. I passed and juggled with her for about fifteen minutes. The dad thanked me and she walked away with the biggest smile on her face.

Wow. That was humbling. What I do everyday is 'normal' to me, (i.e. class, practice, lifting, games). But to her and to millions of other little girls...what I do is their DREAM. They would do anything to play division 1 college soccer. They would put on a UK jersey in a heartbeat.

I have run out onto that field every Friday and Sunday in the fall for the past four years. Everytime I look up into the stands there are little girls with huge smiles on their faces, screaming our names, and lining up for autographs after the games. Why? Because to them, we ARE famous. We are who they want to be. We used to be just like them.

This is just so awesome to me because it puts a different perspective on what I do. Knowing that these little girls are watching ME. Knowing that they want to be like ME. It makes me think about how much influence I can have using soccer. All these girls instantly look up to me just because I play soccer. It's also scary because its up to me (and all of us) to choose HOW we influence those looking up to us. It can go either way, really.

This reminds me of a quote. I'm not sure who said it, but..."A society looking up to athletes as heroes needs heroes looking up to God."

Beautiful. And so true.

This year I have had the opportunity to coach some of those girls, just like the one at the park. Although a bit older, they still look up to me in the same way. However, they know me now, so I'm not as cool. hahaha. Anyway...the trust that I have built with my team, through soccer, has spilled over into life-stuff. That sounds corny, but some of them actually ask for my advice/help/guidance with stuff off the field. School. Friends. Family. Boys. God.

The coolest part about coaching has been actually being involved with their lives. I'm not just some coach who only cares about soccer and about winning. I actually care about them and what is going on in their lives. While our common thread is soccer...I don't want them to just see me as some college soccer player. I want them to see my heart for God because, ultimately there is much more important stuff than soccer. I want them to understand that the reason I am the person that I am, the reason that I make the choices I make, the reason I treat people the way that I do....the reason for all these things is because of what God has done in my life and in my heart.

Back to the park. I don't care where I am. It can be on the UK field on a Friday night, or it can be in class, or it can be shooting a ball against a wall in some park. People are watching. They are watching to see what I do and how I do it. It's up to me to choose how to use the platform I have been given. It's up to me to take the light off myself and shine it on Jesus. Because, honestly, I am nothing without Him.