Melanie Chernin '21 Recruiting Profile

Hi, my name is Melanie Chernin. I fell in love with the game watching my brother play. Before the time I could walk, I was already being dragged around to game after game, tournament after tournament taking in my brother’s every move from the sidelines. As I grew older and started to play soccer myself, I began to look more and more like my brother on the field. To this day my style of play mirrors my brother’s and he remains among my biggest inspirations on and off the field. 

My strengths as a player include creating play, field awareness, and technical skills. Coaches tell me that I have a strong natural vision of the pitch, and I have been working hard to make what I see in my head happen on the field. I have always been a playmaker, which is why I like to play in the middle. I pride myself on my ability to control the flow of the game from the center of the field and move the ball quickly to switch the point of attack. Recently, I have become a much scrappier player. I have become a lot better at holding my own by pushing opponents off the ball to maintain possession, and always do everything in my power to win the ball back when I lose it.

More than anything about soccer, I love and recognize the importance in being a member of a team. Some of my best friends have been made through playing together. I consider myself a strong leader, as well as a team player, encouraging both fun and laughter, and hard-work and accountability. 

This past spring, I had the opportunity to live, travel, and study in Xian, China for four months. While in China, I played soccer with the boys every day. As the only girl on the field, it was the first time that I was required to push myself into male dominated spaces and I gained a greater appreciation for the opportunities afforded to me as a female athlete in the United States. I am excited to bring my new perspective and passion for female athletics to my game, and consider it an asset that I carry moving forward.