Kaydence Morrow '23 Recruiting Profile

In this space, I'm supposed to brag about myself and convince coaches that I'm worthy of their team. To be perfectly honest, I think I'm only average at a variety of things. I've been playing soccer for about 8 years now, and during that whole time, I was never a truly exceptional player. I wasn't better than others in speed or stamina, and I never had a special innate talent for the game. I kept playing soccer because I loved the sport and it was fun to me. I was considered by others a very skilled goalkeeper a couple years ago, higher in level than others my age. That all changed when I hit a wall and stopped improving. Only recently, when I was recruited to a very high level club team, was when I started getting frustrated with myself and my own lackluster talent. I was very excited, more excited than I had ever been, to play as the goalkeeper for this club team after I made tryouts. I had never played on a team that was such a high skill level before. Then I was demoted to backup keeper when a new goalkeeper was invited to the team who was stronger than me, and more liked by the team. It was very frustrating, watching from the sidelines and seeing the other keeper get along so much better with my teammates. I was always a pretty shy person and not very social. I always had trouble getting very close to any teammates I've ever had in my life as a soccer player. Not that I'm unlikeable or mean. I just had trouble expressing myself and letting others get to know me. So, after all this, you're probably thinking, "so what is it about this girl that makes her a good option for my team?" I would say it's my determination. I think that these feelings I've been having this soccer season, of not being good enough compared to this other keeper, have made me better. I started challenging myself and trying to become better so that I could stand at the same level as my teammates and have the skills to be able to protect their goal. When I was frustrated with my personality of introverted and shy, I joined Speech and Debate and theater, so that I could learn to put myself out there. It was the same with soccer. I've been wanting to go to college since I was in the 4th grade, and that's why I tried hard academically. But now, I want to join a good college soccer team to prove to them and myself that even without talent, hard work to improve can help a player rise to the same level as those who are naturally gifted. Right now, I am determined to improve, and I believe I can in time to be good enough to play at the college level. I want to be able to relate to my teammates and earn a mutual trust and respect so that I don't feel like an outsider on my own team anymore. I am really striving for that in a college team, and hope coaches can give me a chance.