- 2021 Spotlight
Personal Statement
Hello! My name is Annie Kratz and I am an incoming senior at North Tahoe High School in Tahoe City, CA. Living in such a beautiful place, it's hard not to be active and it's very easy to find something you like to do involving sports. For me, it's soccer. I started playing when I was six years old and haven't stopped since. I played on the local AYSO team up until high school, then when tryouts rolled around the fall of my freshman year, I won a spot on the varsity squad as the starting keeper. That winter, I joined a local club team at my coach's request to refine my skills, and that was the spark that lit the flame of playing soccer in college.
I am a very coachable player, I receive constructive criticism well, and I love to learn by watching players who are better than me. As a starter all four years and captain for my junior and senior year, people have asked me what it's like to be at the top and to be honest I don't know what to say to that. I've never thought my status on the team was to benefit myself, I've always thought it was to benefit my teammates. I looked up to many of the girls my freshman and sophomore year, and even find myself learning new things from the underclassmen as a senior. I am very determined, daresay tenacious, and will never go down without trying my best. Soccer has taught me that you have to work for your goals and you have to work for your teammates because you never know what they're going through.
It was partially through soccer and partially through my research that I decided I wanted to go into nursing. I have the grades to excel in the very demanding degree and the time management to preserve the balance between school and sports. I've taken many AP and honors classes throughout high school and even homeschooled myself for 7th and 8th grade before that. In addition to these two aspects of my life, I play basketball during the winters, swim in the spring, and dance 2+ days a week year-round. On paper, it looks like chaos, but I see it as enriching and fulfilling.
Even though I started only playing keeper my first two years of high school, I cameo as all positions. For my club team, we were lacking in forwards and had a keeper who wanted more minutes. I volunteered to try it out and found that I could expose the keepers' weaknesses and take advantage of them, having previous knowledge of the keeper position. I found out that gaining the keeper's perspective of the game allowed me to not only be a good striker but to be a good player from any position. I've utilized this knowledge in recent years and now mostly control the game from midfield. However, whatever position needs to be filled, I will gladly offer to play.
Ever since I joined that club team, and collegiate soccer became an option, it's been a burning want for me. Combining my education and sport into one experience would be a dream come true, and anything I can do to achieve it will be done. Soccer has been one of the most influential aspects of my life and I wouldn't be where I am without it!
