Sophia Schofield '24 Recruiting Profile

I've been playing soccer since I was 8 years old and have loved the team aspect of this sport. Most if not all of the friendships I've made have come from soccer. Friendship means so much to me and our teams have gone through so much together. I started off playing soccer with a team that wasn't doing too good. We lost almost every game and had a really hard time scoring. This is when I learned the value of playing with your team to have those connections and not just to win. However, as I got older all I wanted to do was win with my friends. In 2018, my travel team and I won our division and were promoted to the next division up. We ended up losing every game that season but we rode that division win up until school ball. We soon left that travel team to play club soccer and raise our level a bit. This is where my love for goalkeeping was really solidified. They started kicking the ball harder and all I wanted to do was train enough so that didn't scare me. We began to go to some bigger tournaments and I made a bunch of new friends along the way.

I started playing modified soccer at my school and began to realize how eager I was to win. I began to find other sports I was interested in and began to play softball and basketball. Playing these new sports, I started to learn about team dynamics and how everyone on a team has their role. I've been told I'm the team mom which makes me very proud. As a goalkeeper my job is to communicate with my team and keep them all relaxed on the field. I want them to have complete trust in me and trust is vital for a team to function. I started playing varsity soccer in 8th grade and really learned how much confidence helps a player. I was stepping in for the teams goalkeeper who had gotten hurt. This was the game they needed to win to move on in sectionals, and I was put in goal. I was so nervous and I knew how much this game meant to them. That team made me feel so comfortable and relaxed I felt like I could do anything. I learned how important being kind to your teammates are and how important it is to support your teammates. Since then, I've kept my starting spot on varsity and have been looking for different environments to train in. I love getting better and seeing how confidence impacts my performance. I want to be the best I can not only for myself, but for my team.