In this first‑person narrative, the speaker recounts how a fellow parent at a soccer field labeled his son as "addicted" to the sport, prompting his mother to seek help from a local coach named Dan Metcalf. The speaker describes the initial skeptical interaction with Metcalf, who eventually recognized his talent and guided him through the developmental stages of his soccer career, leading to college and professional play. The story emphasizes the enduring nature of his passion, noting that he still trains five days a week with his younger brother, and includes a cautionary warning to a listener named Liam that this "addiction" rarely fades.
Chapters
One day my mom was at a soccer field and a mother came up to her and said, is that your son? Pointing at me. And my mom was like, yeah, that's my son. My— the mother goes, I'm so sorry. And my mom was like, why are you sorry? My son is running around playing soccer. And it was during the warm-up and I was doing high knees so hard that I was trying to knee myself in the face, basically. And the mother said to my mom, your son's addicted. I'm so sorry for you. There's there's no cure for this, and you have to talk to this guy. And my mom's like, who is this person? The gentleman was a guy named Dan Metcalf who really helped me through my career. Wasn't specific to college necessarily, but, you know, very good soccer coach. And my mom called him and said, hey, I've got this son, this mother recommended, my kid's addicted, I don't know what to do, it's like a zombie disease, you know, how do we cure him? And Dan at the first instance was like, you, like every other mother, telling me that their kid is committed. I, I'm full. I don't need another kid. And my mom was like, no, my kid's addicted. I really need help. So I go to the first session with them, and he saw the kind of the level. And that coach really, you know, kind of guided me through my career to where I played college and then pro. Now obviously, when I look for students kind of like me who have this addiction, unfortunately— and this is why I tried to scare you away, Liam— this addiction never goes away. I still play soccer 5 days a week with my younger brother all the time.
