Durand Sarah - Breakaway: beyond the goal

Also by Alex Morgan

The Kicks

Saving the Team

Sabotage Season

Win or Lose

Hat Trick

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Copyright 2015 by Alex Morgan

Wedding photo courtesy Kamee June Photography

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Jacket design by Krista Vossen

Interior design by Hilary Zarycky

Jacket photographs copyright 2015 by Brian Kuhlmann

The text for this book is set in Berling.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morgan, Alex (Alexandra Patricia), 1989

Breakaway / Alex Morgan. First edition hardcover.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-4814-5107-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4814-5109-3 (Ebook) 1. Morgan, Alex (Alexandra Patricia), 1989 2. Women soccer playersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title.

GV942.7.M673A3 2015

796.334092dc23

[B]

2015004127

To my parents, Pam and Mike;

my mother-in-law, Gloria;

and my husband, Servando,

for their advice and guidance

Preface

S omething wasnt right. Actually, something was really wrong. The pain in my right knee was sharp, and it wouldnt stop.

A minute ago Id been a normal seventeen-year old, with a position on a national soccer team and an athletic scholarship to one of the best colleges in the country, and now I was lying on the field clutching my knee as if that would make the pain go away.

Help! Somethings not right. Im hurt, I whimpered to the boy who was kneeling next to me. I think I need some help.

Maybe I should have been angry at him, but I was too worried about my knee. I knew he hadnt meant to injure me. Id been chasing him down, and when Id reached him, Id tried to block his kick. But hed faked and cut the ball to avoid me. Id tried to cut him in return, but my body had gone right and my knee had gone left. Id felt immediate pain, and as emotions flooded over me, Id realized within a millisecond that I couldnt walk. Something was very, very wrong.

I tried to focus on something, anything, to take my mind away from the pain. Think positive thoughts, Alex. Its a beautiful day in Southern California. Youve just received a soccer scholarship to Cal, and youre playing on a national team. Everythings coming together, and youre going to be okay.

My team had been scrimmaging with the mens junior national soccer team when I fell. It was fun, not too serious, but a good way for me to develop as a player and challenge myself. Id always liked training with boys. Maybe it was because I have two sisters, so being around boys was sort of exciting and different.

My dad had always been my biggest supporter, and in fact, he was at practice that day watching me. While I couldnt see him, I assumed he was rushing toward the field to find out what was going on. Despite my pain, I smiled at the thought of him. He always encouraged me, and some of my fondest memories were of practicing with him.

Corners, corners, shoot for the corners! he would say. Head down, follow the ball into the net.

Oh, Dad , I thought. Did he really think I didnt know the basics of soccer when I was sixteen years old? I owed so much to him. Hed gone to all my games, and we practiced together at least twice a week. Sometimes four or five times. We would go across the street to the middle school. If that field was occupied, we would go to Pantera Park. If people were on that field, wed go to Peterson Park. He never gave up.

I couldnt let him down. He wouldnt get mad if I moved on to something elsehe never pressured me about soccer, or anything, reallybut I knew I was poised for something great, and I wanted him and Mom to be proud of me. I wanted to play for Cal; I wanted to feel an Olympic gold medal around my neck; and I wanted to win the World Cup. I had goals, and I was determined to meet them.

But first I had to stand up, get off the field, and figure out what was wrong with my knee.

Note to the Reader

I have always set goals for myself. Even when I was little, I had hopesbig and smallabout everything. They mostly centered on soccer, but to me soccer is life. Its not just a game; its a way of thinking, dreaming, and being. But you dont have to be a soccer player to have wishes and hopes. You can have objectives no matter what you do. And if theres anything Ive learned, its that you dont have to meet your goals on your first try, or even your tenth. Setting targets and working toward them is what counts. And its so important never to forget that.

When I was lying on that soccer field, so many thoughts were running through my seventeen-year-old head, but most of them centered on the goals Id set for myself. Ill talk more about that awful afternoon and what happened in the days and weeks after it, but thinking back on that day, I wish Id realized that a setback doesnt mean you wont reach your goals someday. Ive had so many big bumps in the road in my life, but theyve all taught me something. Theyve shown me how to accept challenges, work hard to overcome them, and in the end, forge a path toward my true purpose.

I hope this book helps you discover the many ways that you can go after your dreams. Im so young that my life is really just beginning, and yours probably is too. But being on the soccer field has taught me some really important lessons, specifically about setting goals and embracing your passions. Ive learned that life can be wonderful if you have the right attitude, work hard, and dream big, and my wish is that reading this will help you set the objectives that will make each day richer and fuller than the last.

Alex

CHAPTER 1

I was doing things my own way even before I was born. After having two girls, my parents wanted a boy. Not that having a third girl is a bad thing; they just wanted something different. But I had my own set of plans, and when I was born on July 2, 1989, there I was: a little baby girl.

With each child my parents had had an agreement. If they had a boy, my dad would choose the name, and if they had a girl, my mom would have the honor. My mom settled on the name Alexandra for me. I can only guess thats because my dad had chosen the boy name Alexander, and my mom decided to allow him just the smallest bit of influence.

Whats so funny is that even though my dad doted on his girls, he had a real vision of how he would have raised his son, if hed had one. He once said that since I was the third girl, he was going to make a boy out of me somehow. He was joking, of coursehe loves having three girls and wouldnt trade us for anythingbut I think he had certain hopes as a father. My dad grew up playing baseball, and he dreamed of a son playing it, living out what hed loved most as a little boy.

Im getting ahead of myself, though. Way before my dad helped introduce me to athletics, I was just a little kid growing up in Diamond Bar, California, about twenty-five miles east of Los Angeles. Diamond Bar is a nice suburban communityquiet, sunny, and generally happy. I liked it there. Mostly everyone knew one another, and I was able to walk to elementary and middle school.