The ball slides under her foot, and her knee pops.

Her thigh and calf twist in opposite directions as rain obscures her view.

One second, she is focused on soccer tryouts; the next, she lies on the ground, unable to move.

But as sophomore Skylar Yuen lies on the field, a familiar figure comes to help—her dad.

Ian Yuen has always been there for her. This time, with a sprained hip and knee, he encouraged her to do rounds of physical therapy and apply ointments.

But Skylar hadn’t always been so close with Yuen, nor did she always like soccer.

Since the start of Skylar’s first soccer lesson at the YMCA in fifth grade, her journey had been rocky, despite her love for the sport.

“I hated the coach,” Skylar said. “He was very strict, and you couldn’t mess up or else he’d frown at you. He just made me feel very unmotivated. So I ran to my dad and was like, ‘I don’t like this coach,’ and we tried to find another one.”

But by the time Skylar was in 5th grade, quarantine set in, and she had to take a break from soccer. This change marked the start of something more than she expected.

“My dad stayed at home for a year because of his job at NASA,” Skylar said. “On Fridays, we would have a movie night, just chill on the sofa [and] eat snacks.”

When quarantine ended the summer before Skylar’s seventh-grade year, she had developed a closer relationship with Yuen, who supported Skylar when she brought up playing soccer again in seventh grade.

“My dad really encouraged me to play again because he knew how much I loved it,” Skylar said. “And most of my friends were playing soccer, and that pushed me.”

But Skylar’s return to soccer wasn’t easy. She struggled alongside her teammates at T.H. Rogers Middle School to form a strong team bond. Practices were once a week and only 45 minutes long, which made it difficult to practice skills on the field. Finding support in her coaches was also challenging.

“They were like, ‘If [we] weren’t here, you guys wouldn’t have a soccer team,’” Skylar said. “And no one wanted to stay after school for [practice], so [the coaches] didn’t really [prioritize] soccer.”

Despite this, Skylar remained determined to stick with the sport. Over the course of a year, she learned to communicate with her teammates through experience, drills and games. Skylar began to anticipate her teammates’ moves on the field, building a strong relationship with them. Throughout this, Yuen maintained his support and helped her navigate her first few years on the soccer team with technical skills and advice.

“[My dad] would pass the ball to me and practice in the backyard,” Skylar said. “He made sure I wasn’t working too hard and overdoing it.”

At Skylar’s soccer game, Yuen would yell phrases like, “Keep going,” “You can do it” and “Try your best.” These positive words stuck with her and were a core memory of middle school soccer.

“He would go to every soccer game I had,” Skylar said. “He would pack a water bottle and say positive words and cheer me on.”

Not every game was perfect. Skylar faced many obstacles in smooth seasons, including injuries, allergies and aggressive opponents. In one game, she injured her hamstring after falling from an opposing player’s soccer cleat.

“I was getting the ball and tried to pass it,” Skylar said. “But this girl kicked my knee, and I fell down. The doctors determined it as a strained hamstring, [and] I couldn’t play until I got better for a week.”

Throughout the healing process, Skylar received help from Yuen, who applied ointment and rubbed lemon juice into her leg to keep it from becoming stiff. After a weeklong break, she was back on the field and ready to play, until she received another injury.

“We had a game against Clear Lake,” Skylar said. “And I was getting the ball, and then [another] girl kicked me in the knee where I was injured. I fell down for [a few] minutes, but in the moment, I wanted to play. I didn’t want to stay still, or else it feels like being left out.”

With Yuen’s encouraging words from the sidelines, Skylar continued the game. She knew the pain was temporary and would eventually go away.

After graduating from T.H. Rogers, Skylar tried track and field instead of soccer her freshman year after discovering that soccer only took up half the school year. Skylar ran the 400-meter dash as her event at districts before deciding to ultimately make soccer her main sport. In the summer leading up to Skylar’s sophomore year, she prepared with Yuen for tryouts in the fall.

“We bought a [net] in November,” Skylar said. “He helped me set it up, and [we] train[ed] again in the backyard like we used to. It brought back a lot of memories we had together.”

Skylar’s work paid off. After a year-long break from the sport, she advanced through tryouts and made the JV team for soccer.

Bonding with Yuen has given Skylar confidence and determination, character traits apparent to Algebra 1 teacher and soccer coach Maggie Jernigan.

“She got injured very early in the season and pushed back from that,” Jernigan said. “She’s very hardworking because she initially started with some skills missing, [but] built up her skills throughout the season.”

On the field, Skylar has proven herself multiple times through her role as a right winger.

“We had a game where our other right winger was not there,” Jernigan said. “So Skylar played most of the game, and it was pretty intense. She was able to maintain the position and keep us from falling down [the wrong] side.”

Aside from her coach, Skylar’s confidence has led her to create “lasting bonds,” including with fellow teammate and friend freshman Kayla Zhou.

“She runs really fast and is really aggressive,” Zhou said. “Whenever she has the ball, she’s determined to keep it, [and] we all know she wants the ball.”

Skylar’s mindset to push through any obstacles has inspired Zhou to do the same.

“She commits herself to the team even [if] she is injured,” Zhou said. “Whenever I have a small injury and want to tap out on something, I can be like, ‘It’s not that bad, because Skylar was still playing when she was limping.’”

Skylar’s perseverance is one of many things she has learned from Yuen. When he’s not on the field with Skylar, he teaches her lessons that she uses in soccer and everyday life.

“The greatest [skill] is to take things one at a time,” Yuen said. “And to not rush success, because that is not an overnight thing you can achieve.”

Skylar has also learned to balance sports and school. Yuen places expectations on Skylar that push her to remain focused and dedicated both on and off the field.
“I have to get an A or at least a high B to play my sport or other side activities,” Skylar said. “I feel like [that] applies pressure in my daily life trying to focus on school and daily activities. [But] I feel like it’s really important to balance both out and not just focus on one of them.”

Skylar’s bond with Yuen means more than just soccer. It is a connection that is seen through the different activities she does with him, including small milestones.

“I started to drive this summer,” Skylar said, “And my dad was actually the first person to let me drive my own car across a parking lot. It felt like a new chapter of life.”

Skylar believes her bond with Yuen has ultimately shaped who she is today.

“I try to spend as much time with my dad and spend the most time I have,” Yuen said. “I try to not always spend time with friends, because family defines you and [makes you] who you are.”