Ella Kaszeta '23 Recruiting Profile

Growing up without a father for the first 10 years of my life was hard. Without a constant father figure in my life, I missed out on a bunch of staple childhood memories. Freshly out of college, my mom worked and raised me at the same time. Even though she was busy supporting us, she always found time for me. My mother is a huge part of my soccer career, she was the one that started my entire journey

For the first few years, I played as an unregistered player in Detroit. The Club did this for my mom considering her circumstances. I barely remember, but I have a bunch of pictures of me in my black Detroit PAL jersey. My mom bought a house in Royal Oak and signed me up for a local rec team, and pushed me to be better every day. This is where I met my first friends, people at my school, and my future sister. 

Fast forward, and my mom eventually found  Alec, now my father. They met because his daughter and I were on the same soccer team. We were best friends and our dreams of being sisters came true.  We moved to a travel team together and met many of our lifetime friends.  Eventually, he became my father by adopting me in 2019.   

Up until this time soccer was all about family fun and friends. Now it's still those things, plus purpose and commitment and work ethic. When the birth year law passed, I wasn’t with my sister or any of my friends anymore. I was with a bunch of girls older than me and I was intimidated by them. This was a pivotal moment for me because it changed the way I thought and the way I played. It made me more serious about playing soccer and it forced me to raise my level and prove I belonged on that team. I did prove myself and ended up being elected as captain for my team. 

Soccer has always been the constant in my life, it keeps me motivated and it makes me happy. I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I want to keep getting better and stronger and keep raising my level. I see myself playing soccer in college and am excited about my next steps.