The soccer team gathers to vote for team captains. It’s always a momentous occasion for players, especially those who face their last season on the team. The vote is not long, but feels like an eternal election to those up for selection. Finally, the athletes come to a verdict and announce senior Storm Jensen as one of the team captains.

Flashback for a minute. Fifth grade is about to start, and a return from a year-long foray back home in Denmark beckons. The year he spent in Copenhagen was incredibly formative, as Storm received a much needed reminder of his roots after several years spent in the States. He is refreshed and ready to come back to the hustle and bustle of American society.

Flash-forward, now, to middle school. Middle school football is a must for any boy who wishes to remain socially relevant (as far as middle school is concerned), so, much like many others his age, he joins the football team with little consideration for the sport itself. He quickly is reminded of his Danish roots, though. Football just isn’t for him. He decides his athletic abilities are best fit for the real football, the kind played in Denmark on the pitch.

Flash-forward again to sophomore year. His soccer career has excelled, and he feels comfortable there. Soccer, he feels at this point, is where he belongs, but that won’t last too long. Coach Schmidt, an assistant soccer and football coach, soon approaches him with an intriguing proposal: that he kick for the football team. The school has a long history of soccer stars turned dynamite kickers, and he now has an opportunity to continue that tradition. He accepts, and, if you want to flash-forward another time, he would soon be kicking for Cedar Park in a state championship game.

It’s all led up to this moment, as we return to that fateful afternoon senior year. As he is announced as captain, he remembers everything that got him there: his Danish origins, his disappearance from and reemergence in American football, and so many other things that led up this moment. He is a soccer captain, and he is fully focused on that pursuit. College Station calls his name in the fall, but for now, he is a leader of men, and dialed in on the task at hand.

Alyssa King