Shayla Brown '22 Recruiting Profile

For as long as I can remember my goal has been to play soccer at the highest level possible.    My soccer journey has been a series of events and circumstances that have made me the player I am today.  Starting with practicing on the sidelines by myself during my older brother's practices back in first and second grade, to eventually joining them. In elementary school, I approached the blacktop in third grade asking some guys if I could play.  The only time I got the ball was when I earned it for myself, and eventually, I was able to prove to them that I was there for a reason.  Middle school came along and yet another opportunity presented itself.  There was an afterschool futsal program, and I was excited to be involved.  Of course, none of my girlfriends that played soccer were willing to join, but being the only girl out there wasn't new to me.  The coach told my father that the reason I did well was my true love for the game; at that point, I thought all my team-mates loved it.  Staying after school every Tuesday and Friday in seventh and eighth grade is what got me out of bed in the morning.  In addition to futsal, I was playing for a travel team, but at the end of seventh grade, I left that club because apparently, I was too short to play up on the top team. Meanwhile, I had been playing with boys all my life.  We found a competitive club that took me, but they only had a boys team.  These guys were twice the size of the girls on my last team, but I held my own.  From that team, I got recruited to an ECNL girls' team.  

My family sometimes laughs at me for bringing a ball with me wherever I go, even if it is not very logical.  I guess over the years soccer has always been there for me, and I plan to keep it that way.  It doesn't matter what's going on in the world or in my day, when I am out there practicing my mind is clear and it is happy.  Wherever the next chapter takes me, I know that I will always bring a ball.