- 2023 Highlights
Personal Statement
Hello, Coaches,
For a while, it has been a dream of mine to play collegiate soccer at the highest level. I have been playing since the age of 5 and I have always been highly committed to and passionate about the sport. I truly love the preparation and the competition involved. I love going to practices and improving myself and my teammates, and it is always the highlight of my week getting fired up to compete against another team and doing everything I possibly can to help my team to win. My passion for the game has brought me to attend camps even in other countries, and learn different styles of play of in different parts of the world. The possibility of playing competitive soccer at the collegiate level and beyond motivates and excites me.
In August 2020, I realized how much I took the game and my progress for granted, when I ruptured my ACL and required surgery. With the goal of returning to play better than I was before, I started eating healthier, weight training regularly, and improving my overall fitness. This injury made me a better athlete, but more importantly, I became a better overall soccer player.
After a very successful high school season freshman year, I unfortunately ruptured my ACL again and had my second surgery in January 2022. Over the course of another 9 months of rehabilitation, I continued to stay close to and train with my club team. Over the summer, I trained both on the field and in the weight room daily, always thinking about what I could do to keep improving as a player. I searched for drills I could do to become more skillful. I researched how to train in the gym for athleticism and oriented my program around it. I learned more about how to optimize my diet, sleep, and recovery. I also began taking steps to improve the mental side of my game, regularly meditating, visualizing, and reading books on the subject. Due to my improvements athletically, technically, and mentally, I am now a very versatile player. I am capable of doing well wherever I'm asked to play on the field. Whenever my team needs, I can move positions to accommodate the coach’s tactics.
I was cleared to play again in September 2022. Though I missed almost 2 years of competitive play between 2020-2022, I realize now that my ACL injuries were the best things to have ever happened to me. I have moved on from the past and am putting all my focus on continuing to better myself as a student-athlete and achieving my dream to play college soccer.
