Think of the one thing in this world that you love more than anything else. Think of the joy, the fun, the excitement that it brings into your life.
Now imagine what it would be like if all of a sudden that one thing was stolen from you, taken without warning, and you were told you could never have it back. How would you react? Would you be angry with God that he would do this to you? Would you be sad? Or would you accept it and move on?
For senior Aydre Soffe of the BYU women's soccer team, this is the situation she has faced five different times over the coarse of her career and five out of five times she was able to find a way to get that one thing she loved back.
Since she was young, Soffe's biggest love has been the game of soccer. Ask those who know her best and they will all tell you the same thing, that Aydre is a competitor who loves to play soccer.
"The competitiveness of the game is why I love it, nowhere else will I find the competition there is in soccer," said Soffe. "I like the competition because something in me burns, I don't like losing, it's fun to win."
And win she has.
"When Aydre was young there weren't that many good girl teams," said Soffe's mother Jill Soffe. "So she played on the boys' teams because she felt more comfortable with competitive players."
When high school began Soffe stopped playing with the boys as the girls' team at Skyline High in Salt Lake City, Utah, finally gave her the competition she was looking for. In her senior year at Skyline, Soffe earned first-team All-State honors and was a member of the state cup championship team, Soccer International, that same year.
In 1999 Soffe was given the chance to pursue her career in the game she loves as she was recruited by the BYU women's soccer team. "I first saw Aydre at the Cougar Soccer Camps and I could tell she had a passion for the game," said BYU women's head coach Jennifer Rockwood thinking back to the first time she met Soffe. "I had to tell her to smile because she was so competitive and serious about the game. She had a driving force in her that made her want to work hard, which made her go farther than the other girls."
"BYU was some place I always wanted to go to, but they didn't recruit me at first," said Soffe. "When Jen called me I was shocked. I couldn't believe that they wanted me to come."
However, the dream was abruptly put on hold before it even began as Soffe suffered the first of three ACL tears at the end of her senior year of high school. As a result she chose to redshirt her freshman year.
"The injury was quite frustrating for her at first," said BYU trainer Carolyn Billings. "She was frustrated and felt bad because she didn't want to let the team down."
Soffe recovered from the injury within seven months and was preparing with BYU for the 2000 spring season when tragedy stuck again. Less than a month after her comeback she tore her ACL in the left knee for a second time.
The rehab process was slow and difficult, but Soffe endured it for the second time and was back on the field when the unbelievable happened, she went down again, this time it was the ACL in the right knee.
"It was unreal, I just felt like I couldn't get any lower," said Soffe. "I remember thinking 'this did not just happen.' But I wasn't done, the fire wasn't out yet."
"Aydre tackles challenges head on because she is a fighter, one of the toughest kids I know," said Billings. "I knew if anyone could come back from a third injury of that severity she could and would do it."
When the 2001 season came around Soffe had done it. She had managed to overcome three ACL injuries, an injury that for many athletes ends their career, and was ready to play. It had been two years since she was recruited to play for the Cougars, yet due to the injuries she hadn't played in a single game
Her drive and determination to get back the thing she loves most proved that with hard work just about anything is possible. All-American teammate Aleisha Rose said, "She has had the worst luck, but has always worked so hard to come back. Aydre works so hard at everything and I think she can overcome anything."
During the 2001 campaign, Soffe played in 20 out of 22 games for BYU and started for the Cougars in the NCAA Tournament as they faced No. 10 Nebraska. She also scored her first goal as a Cougar in that same year when Arizona came to South Stadium on Sept. 28, 2001. With Soffe in the line-up, BYU finished the year 14-7-1, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, won its third-consecutive Mountain West Conference title and finished with a No. 19 national ranking.
One of the biggest things Soffe learned from her injuries was to never take the opportunities she was given for granted.
That outlook has impressed her team members and coaches alike. "Aydre would give up anything and already has given up so much to play the game she loves," said Rockwood. "She has always made the most of the opportunities she was given so she would never look back with regret."
"When Aydre is healthy she works and plays like it could be her last time playing," Rose said. "I want to play like she did, play every game not knowing if it will be my last."
With her first full season behind her, Soffe was now doing what she loved most, playing competitive soccer. As the 2002 season got underway Soffe was poised to be a key figure on the team, but fate stepped in and handed Soffe yet another blow.
Playing Northwestern, Soffe had just scored the second goal of the game for the Cougars when a Northwestern player kicked her in the leg and Soffe went down. It was only 18 minutes into the fifth game of the season game and was again her year was over, this time due to a broken tibia.
"Before I got kicked the bone just hurt, Coach Rockwood told me to just keep running until I couldn't run anymore, and so I did," said Soffe. "I thought I am done, it is over. Some days I felt like I wouldn't come back and then others I felt like I am going to do it."
Soffe's love for soccer and her determination to get back into the game has earned her the nickname "Seabiscuit," or "Biscuit" for short, from her teammates.
"We call her Seabiscuit because she just seems to come back from everything," former teammate and soccer administrative assistant Jennie Christianson said, "Nothing can keep her down."
This season Soffe returned to the BYU soccer team for her final year of eligibility. Rockwood named her one of the team's two captains because of her leadership and hard work ethic, and Soffe was once again expected to be a key figure in the team's success.
But only two games into the season Soffe went down during practice. It was her left knee again, however, this time it was not the ACL, it was the MCL -- a far less serious injury.
Soffe underwent surgery to repair the tear but what the doctors discovered was not good. The cartilage in Soffe's knee had been deteriorated so badly that she was almost walking with bone on bone. With no way to reverse the condition, the knee will only progressively get worse. The prognosis: Soffe's soccer career is officially over.
The loss of Soffe was a blow to the Cougar team, as the forward/midfielder was such an example and supporter to all of those in the program. As a result the coaching staff decided to keep Soffe on the sideline with the team and to make her a part of the traveling squad.
Rather than just let the thing she loves most be taken from her, Soffe found a way to get it back. "I have faced the fact that my time is up and my place is now on the bench, so I simply try to encourage the team by cheering them from the sidelines," said Soffe. "I hope it helps, because all I can do is be supportive."
"Aydre is still a strong support to our team," said Rose. "She is the loudest cheerer on the bench, and that helps when you are out there playing and you hear someone yelling your name and giving you support."
That support is what some might call cheerleading, but it is far more than that. Soffe has become the emotional, inspirational and motivational leader of the 2003 Cougars.
"I can't believe how much someone not even playing in the game can impact a team like Aydre can," said Rose. "She gets us all pumped up with her speeches and at half time she knows what to say to encourage us or what needs to be said to get us to play better."
"I cannot imagine her not being here with us -- it would be awful," said Christianson. "She is always the one that gets the team going."
In all, Soffe has played in 27 out of a possible 112 games for the Cougars, suffered three ACL tears, a broken tibia, an MCL tear, and was forced to sit on the sidelines in part or all of four of the five seasons in her career.
However, none of that ever stopped her from getting back up and fighting to take back the thing she loves most. It's easy to see why the team named her "Seabiscuit."
"I have tremendous respect for Aydre because not only does she inspire the team, she inspires me as well," said Rockwood. "She taught me what it means to get knocked down and then find a way to get back up and set new goals for yourself."
It is safe to say that no matter what life throws her way, Aydre "Seabiscuit" Soffe will always get back up and fight for the things in life that she loves most.
"She is a true example of what we as coaches would want a BYU athlete to stand for and to represent," said Rockwood.
"Life doesn't always turn out the way you want to, it's all about your attitude," said Soffe. "I could have made these injuries the worst thing ever, but through the gospel you learn you can make your weaknesses your strengths and that is what I am aiming to do."