A Hero's Journey: Max W
The proudest moment I have had with IDF is when my team and I traveled to Barcelona, Spain. This picture is a team photo right before we departed for Barcelona.
One reason why I am so proud of his photo is it shows how far I had come along in my footballing journey. I never thought I would be given the chance to go overseas and play like I saw the older boys do years earlier. The year before we went to Barcelona I was at a low point in my football journey. I wasn’t really improving, I wasn’t playing / performing, and I wasn’t at the same level that my teammates were at. I remember when Coach André held a meeting with us players and our parents and told us that we had been given the opportunity to go overseas to play. After hearing this, something inside of me switched on. I started working harder than I ever had before. I had a desire and a hunger to improve. I began to improve in every way on and off the field. This was a turning point for me in my football journey.
Another reason why I am proud of this photo is because I learned and gained a sense of professionalism. Coach André taught me and my teammates how we needed to act and how to represent our club. I still carry the things that I was taught in Barcelona with me today whether it’s when we go to a tournament or in life.
My team went to tour FC Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Seeing the almost 100,000 seats surrounding the pitch below amazed me. Seeing all of the trophies that Barcelona had won made me want to win as much as they had.
In Barcelona, we were playing in the Copa Catalunya tournament. We played teams from all over Europe. We had lost our first game to a Romanian team and won our second game against an Italian team. I remember that our last game was against an Italian team called FC Lav. Mombello. We had made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament, but more importantly, we had shown all the other teams that we could play. During that game, we all played our hearts out but in the end, we didn’t get the result we had hoped for as we drew 2-2, and we were knocked out of the tournament. And I remember when the referee blew the final whistle I fell to my knees and started crying. I had never done that before. I had never cried after a game, practice, or anything related to football. For me, that showed how far I had come and how much I had changed. It showed how my mentality had changed from not caring if we lost to crying on the field.
Barcelona changed me in a lot of ways but for me the most important way was my work ethic changed. After Barcelona, I went to every practice and worked as hard as I could. This not only helped me develop as a player, but it also helped improve my teammates. Barcelona was the turning point in my footballing journey, it set me on the right path to success.
I am proud of this picture because it reflects the most pivotal moment in my football journey which is how my work ethic started to change. It reflects how I changed as a person and matured in a way. And it taught me to always work hard and be honest with you work no matter what.
- MAX W, IDF PLAYER SINCE 2013