Mia Howe '25 Recruiting Profile

“Gooooooooal”, my dad shouted as he ran towards me with outstretched arms, as if he were imitating his signature airplane celebration back in his hay day.  Only this was my goal…my very first goal.  I was 5, maybe 6, and in my second season of playing.  Until that moment, I did not love soccer.  Soccer was merely one of many tools my parents used to help develop my coordination and depth-perception after being diagnosed with refractive amblyopia in one eye at the age of 3.  With a patch covering my good eye, I missed the ball more times than I could count.  My monthly doctor check-ups revealed that the patching was working, and my eye was getting stronger with every visit.  I was too young to remember the day my doctor told me my brain now accepted both eyes equally, but I will never forget the day I scored that first goal practically blindfolded.

Looking back, that goal was much more than my first goal.  It is literally the earliest memory that I can vividly recall.  To everyone else, it was a meaningless goal in recreational soccer where “scores are not even kept”.  To me, it was the moment I fell in love.  For the first time, I felt like the pitch was exactly where I belonged.  I fell in love with the smell of a freshly cut soccer field.  I fell in love with bright white lines covered in morning dew.   I fell in love with my dads’ voice as he was yelling, “Mia, we are going the other way love”.  With my dad as my coach, I continued playing recreational ball until I was 10.  He then just wanted to be “Dad” so that he could enjoy watching his little girl play.  With Dad, Mom, and my little brother in tote, they signed me up for my first select team and we have been putting miles on the car ever since. 

Fast forward to today, with “clear eyes and full heart”, I know that soccer has paved the way for my future.  Even if I never touch a ball again, soccer will remain the most influential, non-human, agent, that shaped my life.  As consequential as soccer is, more than anything, I want the best college education I can get.  I also know that I want to get the most out of my college experience by doing the things that are most important to me.  The order of these may change daily:

• 1.  I want to build lasting friendships.
• 2.  I want to get a degree.
• 3.  I want to continue playing soccer at the collegiate level.
• 4.  I want to be part of something special.
• 5.  I want a coach that believes in me as much as I believe in myself.
• 6.  I want to be a “regular” at a restaurant where the wait staff knows my name and order. “Hey Mia, welcome back!  Am I getting you your usual?”
• 7.  I want to have no-regrets.