In 2018-19, the Mountain East Conference began its "Dear Sport" initiative where student-athletes in the conference were encouraged to write a letter to their sport. The initiative provides the opportunity for student-athletes to express in their own words the impact that sports has played in shaping them throughout their lives. 

Click here to view all letters posted throughout the year. 

Below is a letter from Samantha Buffey, a soccer player at Fairmont State.

Dear Soccer,

You are a huge part of who I am. Looking back on the past 17 years that you have been a part of my life all I have is gratitude and thankfulness for what you’ve done for my life. It’s hard to find the words to say to the sport that has always been the constant even though everything in my life is always changing. Truth is, I’ve learned the most about myself as an individual and as an athlete from the time I’ve spent playing soccer. You changed my heart and my life in more ways than one. Growing up I was selfish and wanted you and all your glory to myself, but then you changed my heart. You showed me how much better and more fun the game can be when you play for your teammates instead of your own recognition. Giving my 100% to the team helped me grow. You showed me how to be a good leader, and an even better teammate. You taught me the importance of teamwork. Without these friendships through every stage of my life, I would be a different person. My teammates pushed me and challenged me to grow as a player on the field, but also held me accountable off it.

You know how hard I can be on myself when I make a mistake because I strive for perfection, you were the one who taught me it’s okay to make mistakes. On the soccer field I’ve made plenty of them, but in order to be successful you have to learn from those mistakes and how move forward and let go, luckily I had amazing teammates throughout middle school, high school, and now college to pick me up when I fall.

Facing adversity with a group of people who are working to achieve a common goal creates a bond that lasts a lifetime. It would be near impossible to play a soccer game alone and the same goes for life.

I have been blessed with a competitive nature, and athletic ability which has always kept me inspired to be involved. Throughout my life, I’ve participated in many different sports but none of them meant to me what you mean to me. You were my first love, and even though you’ve given me some of the greatest highs I’ve ever experienced from winning big rivalry games or all the laughs and memories with friends.. there’s also come a lot sacrifice and heartbreaks as well. The biggest heartbreak of all was tearing my ACL my sophomore season. Every athletes biggest fear. I was terrified, uncertain if I would ever play again. I loved you so much, and have dedicated most of my life too you, and just like that you were taken from me within seconds. But in that moment I had a choice to make, to call it quits, and hang up the cleats, or to keep fighting. Soccer you taught me how to preserve, through the pain, fatigue, and lack of motivation. My stead-fast attitude, encouragement from my team, and the love of the game combined with God’s grace carried me through. I’ve taken my fair share of blows and falls. No matter how much it hurts, I always get up. When life gets you down, just like what happens on field, there is no other option but to stand back up! To keep moving forward.

Throughout my time experimenting with different positions to find my natural fit, I’ve learned a thing or two about the sport. These lessons not only stuck with me as in my athletic development, but have actually poured over into my career, personal life, and just about everything I do.

In high school my coach would always tell me to go goal. To get down the field and place the ball on frame takes a lot of effort. More importantly, if you don’t believed you’ll score, you never will. It’s about timing, positioning, precision and a little bit of finesse— these things can easily take shape in any of my life’s endeavors.

Timing- prioritize everything. I know I wanted to go to the party and be social but I also know that if I don’t write the 8 page paper tonight, tomorrow when I have to travel for an away game, I won’t have time to do it then my grade may suffer

Positioning- just because I don’t have the ball, doesn’t mean I don’t have a job to do. Just like in my army career. I might not be the one who’s in charge and running the plays but what I do is critical to overall mission success because it takes everyone working together as a team.

Precision- how focused am I on making sure I hit the ball on frame or on judging the ball out of the air? Just like in life, am I focused on the things that really matter and trying to control only what I can control?

Finesse- Have I perfected the areas in my life that need attention? I know I might not always see the importance of what I’m doing right now, but soccer you have showed me that little details become the things that become the difference between winning or losing. The difference between and A or a C in the classroom.

Being a part of Fairmont State's women’s soccer program has been a dream come true, it was the only college I applied to, but you always knew that...

Lastly, you have taught me to trust in my abilities rather than my luck, and work diligently to get to where I want to be. Soccer we might not have always won the game, but we sure never gave up on each other.

As I get older, I continue to take these lessons and apply them to my life, my college education, and career. I can’t thank you for enough for being my best friend all these years when I needed you most.

Love, 

Samantha Buffey
Fairmont State University