The Game of My Life

written by Kayla Larson
10-19-2003

The pressure was on as soon as I walked into the Forest Lake hockey arena.  The atmosphere in the arena was not a typical hockey arena.  Inside the Plexiglas walls, there were 24 horseshoe courts sectioned off with blue tarp barriers into three pitching areas consisting of 8 courts each.  Each court has a scoreboard and a scorekeeper's chair placed at the center, just out of the pitcher's way.  The arena is filled with laughter, visiting, and constant clanging of horseshoes hitting the stakes.  This is my home every Labor Day weekend.  In 2001, I became the MN Junior Girls State Champion.  Now, in 2002, could I defend my title?

I had to compete against 3 other girls, approximately my same age and same ringer percent.  Since the numbers were down in our class, we used a double round robin format.  We played 6 games to 40 points.  After a couple hours of friendly competition, we awaited the results.  The leader board showed a tie between Colette and I.

Off the court, Colette and I have become good friends throughout the years, but when it comes time to compete, it's all or nothing.  We've competed against each other in local tournaments, past State Tournaments, and two World Tournaments.  For us, the only game that matters is when we match up against each other.  Every time we play each other we hope for our best game, but never as much as we wanted it during this championship deciding game.

After a short break, it was time to start our playoff game.  By this time, everyone else who had been competing on the other courts had finished up their games.  Now, all the spectators had made their way to the bleachers where Colette and I were about to start our game.  The laughter, the visiting, and the clanging of horseshoes hitting the stakes were gone.  An uncomfortable hush filled the arena.

I had never experienced anything like this before.  I was shaking on the inside and probably on the outside, too.  My heart was working overtime as it pounded and pounded inside my chest.  It amazed me that I could even throw the horseshoes my first few throws.  However, everything eventually started to feel normal again.  The crowd slowly faded out of my sight and the only thing I saw was the stake.  I was effortlessly throwing ringer after ringer.  Everything felt so easy and natural.

Finally, I could see my win in sight.  The Girls State Champion was about to be crowned.  I only needed 1 point to win.  I threw two ringers on for 6 points.  The only way I could lose was if Colette covered both of my horseshoes.  She threw her first shoe–missed.  She threw her second shoe–missed!  The crowd exploded with cheers and applause.  I earned my second consecutive State Championship.

Defending my title was very important to me.  The pressure was hard to overcome, but I managed.  You'd have to experience playing in a playoff game to understand how I felt.  It was amazing.  I pitched at the top of my game to defeat Colette and defend my title.