Victoria’s Storymap

This is my journey of soccer how I began to appreciate and realize of how fortunate my family and I are, bonding with my brother and a new perspective on soccer. Due to me traveling around with my brother, I saw how soccer brought families and communities together. I am the oldest out of five and my journey starts at my home. My parents would ask me to take my brother to soccer and it seemed like a burden. Going on a mission’s trip to El Salvador is when I got a change of heart. The focus was on water and I left with thinking of how fortunate my brother was. I saw the kids playing with a rugged ball in the work zone with great skill but they lacked the support of others. When I went back home, I would voluntary take him to practice at Loyola and we would bond. I internalized how other families were doing the same things as I and supporting their other members of the family. My brother plays for the Chelsea Academy Team. When they would travel, my father and I would take him. Being in an area of Indianapolis that was isolated allowed for more conversations to happen with other families from all over country. The conversations opened more perspectives on family and soccer. During the tournaments I saw how soccer impacted the family economies of the local area. In Sarasota, the tournament brought more revenue to the town and they redid the recreational areas where the games were being held.  After traveling with my brother, I saw how soccer impacted others, him, my family and myself. It wasn’t just a sport, it was a way I bonded with my brother, appreciate what I have and observe the world around me.