My name is Michael Gray and I’m from Las Vegas, Nevada. I come from a middle class family with one brother named Chris who is twenty-four and is about to get married in April, and one sister named Val who is nineteen and goes to UNLV. My family always wants what is best for me and that is why I am on the road I am now. My family sent me to the best high school in my state called, Bishop Gorman, a Catholic school. I loved this school because everyone got along well and everyone was friendly. I truly enjoyed going to school because the environment was almost perfect, I can’t even explain the feeling. As I look at myself now I realize I have sacrificed a lot. I have not had the hardest life, or the easiest, but I can say I have done things that some people will never do in their lifetime.
I would like to say I am one of the top soccer players in the country because of what I have accomplished. I’m very proud to say I made the U-15 National Team and traveled the world competing and now I am a part of another great group, the Real Salt Lake – Arizona Soccer Academy. Doing what I do is not something that comes easily and I have sacrificed everything to be where I am at now. I gave up hanging out with friends, living with family and being around the environment I grew up in. I miss it every day and sometimes I want to quit, but with this struggle I’ve realized how much I truly love soccer. I love it so much that I am willing to give up my almost perfect life for the opportunity to play at the highest level. Grande Sports Academy will test you everyday mentally and physically.
People can say they can do what we do, but they do not fully understand how much effort it takes. You have to train every day for your spot and also perform well in the classroom. Doing both is a full time job and I’m happy to say I’m surviving it here. I now have an idea of what college is like and know that it will not be easy. At Grande Sports Academy, I can say that I don’t have just one brother, but forty. The coaches have become my four dads and Carmen has become my mom away from home. We’re just one big family and we all fight for each other on the field and off. This family quality is what I like, and I can say most teams don’t have a strong family as we do and this is why we’re more successful.
In my future, I plan to go to college and play Division I soccer and play professionally if possible. I would like to study for a career focused on athletes like being an athletic trainer or physical therapist. I would like to be around something that involves sports because that is where my passion is and what I love being around. I’ll achieve these goals by working harder then every one else, studying twice as hard as every one else, and asking questions if I need help. I will take risks because I am not afraid to fail and these risks will help me stand out from the rest.