Personal Statement
I´m ELENA ESPINOSA, a student-athlete from Madrid (Spain). This year I´m doing my 11th grade as an exchange student in Kentucky, at LaRue County High School and I´ll be graduating on May 2019.
I´ve been playing sports since I was a kid: basketball, tennis, cross country, padel-tennis, swimming … and soccer. My first option right now is to be a student-athlete in an US university, and be able to play soccer at competitive level and study at the same time.
I want to study Business with focus in Sport Management and maybe a minor in sport journalism. I really like everything related to sports. My current GPA in my junior year is a 4.0. I am planning on taking the SAT in October of 2018.
During the last 3 years I´ve been leaving in Dubai (UAE) because of my father´s work. It has been an extraordinary experience and I have learned so much about new cultures, new languages, new people … and of course about soccer and sports in general. Last year I was awarded the Fittest Teen in all UAE. I played at the Spanish Soccer Academy with former Real Madrid player Michel Salgado as a coach. We won the UAE league against UAE national team. And many other recognitions and awards. To compare myself with other players around the world I participated at the Arsenal Soccer Camp during the summer and got the MVP award; I also attended the Future 500 ID Camp in Philadelphia (US) where I played the 2 out of 2 All Starts games.
I´ve been playing soccer all my life but I didn´t start playing in a club until I was 12. I play as an attacking midfielder: center, or out on the wings, as I´m ambidextrous I have no problem in playing in any attacking position. I would say I have very good field vision and high soccer IQ. I´ve been playing with the school varsity team since I was in 8th grade. This year I’ve been the top scorer of my team with 31 goals and 13 assists in 20 matches. And I was also awarded as part of the region’s All-Tournament team. I also lead my team to an overall record of 14-6 winning the District Tournament, scoring two goals in the final.
I´m a very coachable person as all my coaches tell me, and I like to learn new things from every coach. I´m positive and I can give a lot of energy to the team. I´m very unselfish and enjoy more to give a great pass than score a goal. Every time I´m on the field I give a 100% effort. I´m that kind of person that comes to practice 30 minutes earlier and leaves 30 minutes late.
Here is a link to my highlight video:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskcDMpYNQvZZGKaMfldXVA/videos
During the winter season I´m playing at the high school varsity basketball team but during next weeks I will start playing soccer again at Nelson Elite Soccer Club (close to Louisville, KY). If you are interested I can send you my spring games and tournament schedule so you can see me play. Next year I will go back to Madrid (Spain) to finish my senior year. I was drafted to play at Atletico de Madrid at the end of my sophomore year, so I suppose I will end up playing there for the under 17 team.
My long-term objective within the sport is to prepare myself to be ready to play professional soccer after college. Academically I would like to work after college as well in something related with sports and business.
