Zach Fishburn(Idaho State University)

Zach Fishburn(Idaho State University)

December 26, 2015

DREAM Scholarship Essay

I have played soccer for fourteen years with the Rush Soccer Club. I began when I was four years old, advancing from recreational to metro to competitive.I’ve been playing with the same group of kids each year, whether on the same team oron opposing teams, many of which became my closest friends. Practicing and working hard with and against my friends, formed life long bonds. My soccer friends have become my closest friends.I have had good coaches and I am thankful for all I learned them.

Throughout my soccer career, I always played alongside my twin brother, Josh. It seems like we became sort of ”famous” in the Rush community, because coaches from other Rush teams knew us as the “Fishies” and would come to watch us play together. I enjoyed playing with him and felt secure knowing that a pass to Josh was often an assist.

At first, soccer provided a stressfree environment where I messed around with my friends. But as I grew up and soccer becamemore competitive, I viewed soccer practice as a time to pushmyself, and games as a time to showcase my leadership and passion. Soccer taught me to push myself both physically and mentally, it taught me about teamwork and goal setting, about winning and losing gracefully, and it introduced me to many inspiring people. My last year at Rush was my favorite year, because I synthesized all my prior years of coaching to become astrong player.

I have played a wide variety of positions from defender to goalie to mid-fielder to forward to center midfielder. My favorite position was center midfielder. This position allowed me to play strategically, because it made me cover the entire field and ask for the ball, to distribute it wherever I chose. Playing center midfielder also utilized my years of experience as a defender.

Competitive soccer has given me the opportunity to play abroad, in Spain, where I guest played with the Stony-Brook, New York Rush team. Exploring Madrid, and the Basque region outshined the soccer aspect of the trip, but I still appreciated the sport for taking me out of the U.S. for the first time.

The technical skills that I learned playing for playing for Rush, were crucial in my earning a spot on the Timberline Varsity team as a freshman, where I continued to play for four years. In my junior and senior year, my Timberline team won back-to-back State Championships; the first one, my brother scored the game-winning goal and the second year, I scored thewinning goal. Our second championship year was accompanied by 1st place in academics, 1st in the regular season,and 1stdistricts. Without years of exposure to competitive soccer, my high school soccer accolades wouldn’t exist. I don’t know what role soccer will play in my life in the future, but I hope to always enjoy the game.