Anna Hester '26 Recruiting Profile

"Queen" is the title I pronounce when one of my favorite NWSL or Spirit players makes an awesome play from the midfield or smashes a seemingly impossible goal from the 18. As a diehard soccer player, I hope to earn that title some day, but I have a lot of hard work and practice ahead of me before such an honor can be a reality. I started playing competitive, travel-league soccer in the 3rd grade with a new local club in my small town of Winchester, Virginia. To be completely honest, I'm not sure I could have ever envisioned myself wanting to play the highest level of soccer at that time. You see, my coach was also the head coach of the women's soccer team for Shenandoah University, and she held her brand new, 8- and 9-year old players to the same standards as her college students. The first year was rough to say the least, but over time, I began to use her unapologetic coaching style as motivation to never be satisfied with my play or skills. I began to understand her grunts and nods after practices and games as signs that I was making progress, and that only fueled me more.

After four years of playing for Shenandoah FC Elite and Coach Pike, I decided it was time to try out for a new travel club, Virginia Soccer Association, in order to access higher levels of league play and tournaments.  I had come to love the girls on my local team, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the varying levels of commitment and effort that they had for the game. Sometimes, it felt like I was one of a small minority who earnestly wanted to put in 100% every time we worked out together. For me, soccer was not social hour.

At VSA, I was placed on the top of three teams for my age group, which plays in the ECNL Regional League, and after only two months of practice, I was chosen by my teammates (many who had been playing together for years) to be the team's assistant captain. The increased commitment of these players, their confidence in me to be one of their leaders, and a new coach who had both high standards and an encouraging coaching style, only strengthened my work ethic and determination. I took ownership for my new leadership role both on and off the field. Even with a 1-hour drive to practice, I always try to be one of the first ones on the field, warming up before the coach arrives. I treat every practice like a game and I use my voice on the field for motivation, encouragement, and tactical directives.

After my first year with the team, Coach Steve knew that I still wanted more. He named me to the club's Player's Council, a group of selected leaders to represent their team, invited me to stay for practices with the 2007 ECNL RL team, and recommended me to be one of the Dual Players with Virginia Development Academy, the ECNL National team for my club and two other travel clubs. I started practicing with VDA one night a week and found that I loved the VDA practices for the ultra-competitive environment and the fact that they grind even on recovery nights. They challenge my mental game and force me to double down on maintaining a positive growth mindset. Now, after three years with VSA, I have been selected as a fully rostered player with VDA for the upcoming season, and I've already attended national events with them in New Jersey, Florida, and California. Just like each previous step in my soccer journey, I know that I'm going to have to work even harder to earn every coveted minute of playing time, and there will be setbacks that I have to persist through.

I love playing soccer because it's a way for me to express myself, something that I can focus on any time of the day. Outside of soccer I have hobbies including photography, cooking/baking, hiking, art, journaling, reading, and spending time with my friends, family, and French Bulldog, Basil. What do I look for in a college? I don't have very much experience around colleges or universities yet, but I look forward to having more opportunities to explore them. At this point, I know that I'm interested in ones with strong academic and soccer programs as well as supportive communities that value and uphold being the best version of yourself.

I'm excited for my second year of high school, and I'm looking forward to what the future has in store. And for now, I'll keep "queening" myself after a frigid ice bath, but keep the true honor as motivation for what I want to achieve on the field.