I recently got the chance to talk to a soccer player, Amaar Wolfe. I asked him ten questions about why he loves the game and what it’s actually like to be out there on the field during a real match. Even though soccer is a super fast sport, talking to him made me realize that there is a lot more going on in a player’s head than just running around and kicking a ball. 

One of the first things I asked him was how he even got started. Amaar told me that he didn’t start out playing in fancy leagues with expensive gear or anything. He actually just used to kick a ball against a brick wall behind his house for hours. He said the “thud” of the ball was like music to him and it was basically his “first language.” It’s cool to think that a great player started out just like anyone else, just messing around in their backyard. 

We also talked about the stressful parts of the game. I asked him how he stays calm during a big moment, like a penalty kick when everyone is watching and screaming. He said he tries to “shrink the world.” Instead of worrying about the fans or the score, he just looks at the ball and the grass. He also has a “three-second rule” for when he messes up. He lets himself be mad for three seconds, and then he has to forget it so he can keep playing. He told me that if you live in the past, you’re going to lose the next play. 

I also wanted to know about the hard parts of the game that people don’t see on TV. Amaar is obsessed with “scanning,” which just means looking over his shoulder every few seconds to see where everyone is standing. He said the hardest person he ever played against wasn’t even the fastest guy, but a defender who was just really smart and knew exactly where Amaar was going to move before he even did it. It shows that being smart is just as important as being fast.

 When he’s not playing, Amaar is pretty normal. He eats pasta and chicken before a game for energy, but his favorite thing to eat after a long game is a double cheeseburger and some fries. He says after running six or seven miles, he really deserves the food. To wrap things up, Amaar gave me a really deep quote about why he works so hard even when it’s tough. He said, “The scoreboard tells you the result, but the dirt on your jersey tells you the story. I don’t play for the ninety minutes of cheering; I play for the thousands of hours of silence that got me here.” Talking to him was really interesting. It showed me that soccer isn’t just about being the best athlete; it’s about how much work you put in when nobody is watching and how you handle the pressure when they finally are.