Is it possible to load an animation once and play it in the same script?

Is it possible to load an animation once and play it in the same script? I keep getting an error. I'm using a remote event, it fired when the player click on the textbutton, inside the player's Combat GUI

if loadA == true then
loadA = false
local punch = char.Target:LoadAnimation(animation)
print("Punch Loaded")
end
	
punch:Play()	<--- got an error here
	

That error occurs when loadA==false because the declaration of variable punch is inside of the if statement and the Play call is outside of the if statement.

I suggest putting the call inside of the if statement.

Sample: Declaring a local variable inside of an if statement will be nil or the value declared on the same level if used outside of the if statement.

local a = 1
local b = 2
if true then
	a = 4
	local b = 3
	print(a,b) --4,3
end
print(a,b) -- prints 4 because you changed the value in the if statement but prints 2 after because you assigned variable b, thus variable b would be 3 inside of the if statement but not outside.

Comment on me if I should correct anything.

Like the post above said your problem is with scoping and also the fact that when that line of code runs punch might not be defined yet