Samantha Sokolove '23 Recruiting Profile

My name is Samantha Sokolove and I am a 2023 graduate and  Left Footed  outside back.  I consider myself a very coachable player, looking to improve constantly and always accepting any kind of advice to improve as a player and person.  Excellence has been a personal goal of mine since I was a child - ever since I recognized how good it feels to succeed, I have done everything I can to find and earn that success in whatever I set my mind to. In my career as a student so far, that success has been mostly related to my schoolwork and my sports experience, but I try to apply these principles to my life as well.

I am an  Honor Roll student with a cumulative 4.01 gpa. As a soccer and basketball player at Hudsonville  High School , this is an experience which has enriched me greatly. I have made many new friends in my time there, and have honed my skills in the sport of soccer and basketball - incidentally, this also helped me learn the importance of teamwork and competition. Ever since I began my career with the Eagles, I have learned the value of hard work and appreciating the role one plays in a huge team or organization. This hard work has paid off; Last season our Soccer program captured the Conference and District Titles, and  I earned 1st Team All Conference in a power packed OK RED conference as an underclassmen. All of these things have contributed to a great feeling of accomplishment, and have done many things to help me understand my strengths and value as an individual.

I have also been fortunate to play at a high level with my club soccer team, Michigan Fire Soccer Club. With this team I have been able to travel and play at a very high level of competition. Also being surrounded by other players that want to live out their dream and play at the next level like myself.  On top of the competition, the club has helped me work on my leadership skills, technical skills and to be coached at a high level as well.

This desire to be a better person extends to my schoolwork; I attempt to maintain good study habits, as previously mentioned.  It provides quite a bit of accountability for my own actions in school, as I want to keep up the good example. I always complete my own assignments on time, and take chances for extra credit when I can, as I see those just as extra opportunities for learning. The more I can do to better myself, the better off I will be; both my general course studies and my athletics are ways to hone myself as a complete and well-rounded individual. Luckily, I am able to multitask easily between these two pursuits; I never allow my sports work to get in the way of my academics, but that just means I work hard to catch up on my schoolwork and allow myself to enjoy my time on the field. It has taken me years of building up the willpower, but I am confident in my ability to maintain discipline regarding both of these pursuits.

Apart from all of these accomplishments, I also try to loosen up and have fun. Since the 7th grade I have been a member of Optimal Performance Training Center in my hometown. This facility has also built me into the person that I am today as well. Their goal to make me a better athlete physically has paid off but the mental and emotional benefits I have learned from this facility are life lessons that I can take wherever I go in life for my next chapter.

 I believe myself to be extremely easy going and friendly, and I always do my best to reach out to new friends and keep in touch with old ones. I have a close immediate family that  I hang out with on most days.  I take pride in Faith,  Family and Friends in that order and am proud of the women I am becoming. 

All of my effort in my friendships, community outreach, sports and my academic work has all been to improve myself and work towards excellence as much as possible. I am reliable and dependable, and I am always willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. This has made me a valuable asset to my friends and family, as well as my school; I do my best to appreciate the gifts I have been given every day, and do the most I can with them. My relationships with my teammates, my family, my friends and God mean more to me than anything, and I do everything I can to make them proud. In turn, I make myself proud by being as well-rounded, versatile and hard-working as possible. My continuing search for excellence is something I take a great deal of strength from, and hope to keep doing as long as I am given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people around me.