- 2020 Highlights
Personal Statement
At the age of nine my parents motivated me to practice any sport of my choosing, for what they talked to one of my school’s coaches so I could try different sports to see which one was the one I liked the most. I tried different sports, but from the start I knew the one that was meant for me was: soccer. My heart, my head, and legs perfectly synchronized with the sport. Even though, the norm in my country is that boys play basketball or baseball, and girls play volleyball, my parents fully supported my endeavors to practice this nontraditional sport.
My main goal in life, is to attend a top university in the United States with a major college soccer team. To achieve this goal, I have worked tirelessly to maintain a 3.0 GPA at school and by practicing soccer every day. Due to my constant work I have earned at my school different awards: Merit Student (2016); Most Valuable Female Soccer Player (2016); Honor Student (2017); and Athlete of the Year (2017).
In soccer, I have represented the Dominican Republic, both nationally and internationally at the divisions U-15 and U-17. The first time I represented my country internationally was at the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) the year was 2016 and we played against the United States, Mexico, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago; the tournament took place in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, during this tournament, my team was not able to score a goal, but I always maintained a positive attitude and motivated my teammates to not give up.
After last year’s setback, my team and I had the opportunity to represent my Dominican flag in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. This time my teammates and I played against Puerto Rico, Anguilla, and Bahamas. Since we wanted to do better, we trained harder and I particularly stressed the importance of effective communication and avoid discussions in the field. I strongly believe that my positivity, the mantra I kept repeating to my teammates: “da el 100%” (give 100%) is what allowed us to score 11 goals in two games. Even though, we did not classify, this was a great improvement from 2016.
Soccer is my passion, the dedication and discipline that I have acquired through trainings have allowed me not only to succeed at the soccer field, but academically and socially as well. Overall, I am a great asset to any team because: I can make friends rapidly, I enjoy working in teams, and I am capable to adapt easily to new techniques and strategies given by the coach.
http://www.concacaf.com/article/cu15g-qa-karla-muniz-dominican-republic
