"Play it Safe and be good or take the chance and be GREAT!!!"

I take a walk and my mind wanders…

2006

My first game back after my last surgery was at an indoor tournament at my club’s facility. I had not played one minute in a year.. Now, we are in the final and go to Penalty kicks..

 In my club if you want to penalty you take it!!! You have to have the courage and be willing to take the responsibility to win or lose the game... Only those who want it get it! It was important in my club; COURAGE…

 My assistant coach asks, "who wants the first PK?" I raise my hand along with everyone else and he laughs and says, "haha Jackie nice try" he picks someone else...

Then asks again for the second, third, forth and I raised my hand along with everyone else getting the same response, "haha Jackie come on"

Then on the 5th when he asked no one on my team raised their hand... Only me ... And because of this "rule" he got frustrated and said, "come on someone needs to take the 5th kick... You all raised your hand before!!!!" 

Everyone said,” Let Jackie take it... “

He asked the head coach and he said "she the only one?"

He said, “yes!!:”

"Let her take it"

It went down to my shot. If I made it we won... I have not played in a year and my debut with this team is in this final taking the "winning" penalty…

I walk there and my heart is racing but I am also calm. I am nervous and excited… Ready... I put the ball down and as I approach I see the goalkeeper move early so I chip the ball and while she is on the ground the ball slowly bounces in the goal and we win the tournament!!!! My team rushes to me!!

I think of that feeling and I have the same feeling now… I'm stepping up to the penalty stop with that feeling of nervousness as well as excitement.. Outside of my comfort zone but also ready! I feel this sense of freedom to bring my dream to life, my vision to life!! I am walking to the line and I am ready to take the shot!! Ready to take that responsibility to win!! Ready to score!!

"Play it safe and be good or take the chance and be great…” I want to take the chance I want to be great!!!

My mind wanders again….

November 2016

My friend Lollo Schillgard is now playing for the Boston Breakers!!!! We were training on a field near her apartment in Stockholm. I creating an exercise where she is working on driving the ball from the flank to the inside searching for different spaces to create a shot… I added pressure as a defender and it got really intense!! All of the sudden out of no where we started going 1v1; total street at 8am on a small field in the middle of the city…

She went around me with this sick move (I must say), I grab her shirt as she comes around me, pulling her down, she shoots and scores this insane goal; upper 90.. I fell to the ground with complete exhaustion. She goes to her knees in celebration with complete joy, fists pumping and yelling like she won the World Cup…

We got completely taken away!! Besides the “shame” I felt of her beating me (haha) seeing that joy, that passion, that moment was better than any high I could ask for..

I help her up and in my mind I see her scoring this amazing goal and me celebrating as a coach in a stadium in from of 90,000 people… I hear the crowd, see myself screaming in celebration doing the unthinkable… I see it so clearly my heart is racing… I also see Lollo  running and falling to her knees again after scoring that magical goal.. "Winning the hearts of the mob" 

 Two dreams.. One as a coach, one as a player… The same passion… The same magic… My mind comes back to reality and we are in a small part of the city, in a fenced in field and we are training like it is a World Cup Final!!! That spark, those magically moments, that is what it is about that is what I am after!!

I think of everything now and the dreams I have had and have and its like ive “seen it before” I have lived the situation before, rehearsing this great performance in my mind over and over again… Finding keys… Then all the sudden the vision you see, this dream you have becomes a reality. The dream comes to life!! I truly believe if you see it you become it and I see it so clearly!!!

"The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become." 

"The heart has eyes the brain knows nothing of"

I want to create something so great that you cant take your eyes off it, so great it makes you disappear… Where you are lost in the awe of the moment; Magic…