When I was 4 years old, my parents signed me up for soccer. From my very first practice, I was obsessed.
When practice ended, I didn’t even want to leave. I just wanted to keep playing after it was over. On the ride home I kept telling my mom, “I just don’t want to leave, I want to play soccer forever.”
Back then, I didn’t just play soccer – I loved it. Every time I scored, I would do cartwheels across the field like it was the biggest moment of my life. Back then, soccer was just fun and exciting, nothing more. What I didn’t know was that it soon would become the biggest part of my life. It was the start of a 13-year journey that still continues today.
Fast forward to 2025. It was the first year I could start getting contacted by colleges. The past few years, my team and I had traveled all across America getting seen by hundreds of college coaches. But this was the year. On June 15 before my junior year, D1 colleges were allowed to start speaking to me.
Before June 15, I had a few D2 colleges contact me and that was exciting. One of them eventually became one of my top options. But when June 15 rolled around, I was contacted by at least 15 D1 colleges. I was so excited, I could finally see God’s plan for my future start to happen.
Throughout the next few months, most of those schools would end up ghosting me. I felt like my soccer career was not going anywhere. I got into a slump. I never wanted to go to practice, I never wanted to play, and it really ended up hurting me. My performance in games went down and I started not doing as well. But one day, the switch flipped. I realized I needed to start focusing and get back into the love of the game. So I did, and I started seeing the improvement.
I went months without contact from schools. But that all changed after I went to an ECNL event in Dallas. We had over 200 coaches see us over the span of three games. When I got back from that trip, I was contacted by a good amount of schools.
The first phone call I had that week after Dallas was with a coach from the University of Central Arkansas. I hadn’t heard much about Central Arkansas but what I do remember is that they had come to all three of our games in Dallas and my coach had told me they were looking for a 2027 goalkeeper.
When I got on this phone call, it started out the same as every other phone call – me asking some questions, them asking some questions. But when Coach Derek Nichols, the Central Arkansas head coach, started talking about the new conference they were joining, I started to get super excited. He had told me that they were moving to a new conference where they would be playing against teams from Texas. This made me so happy.
If I joined this team, I would get to come back home to Texas, where it would be easy for my family to travel to watch me. After the call, I just felt different. I had never felt so happy and excited after a call. Coach Nichols made Central Arkansas feel like home. I could really see myself going there. So a few days later, I texted Coach Nichols and we scheduled a time for me to visit campus.
When I was on my visit, I was so ecstatic. I walked around the campus, the athletic facilities and the town. My mom, my dad and I spent most of the first day touring Conway, Ark., and then in the evening we watched Central Arkansas play against Arkansas State.
I loved watching the team play because they were just so fast-paced, and it looked super competitive. But what made me love watching them play even more was that they looked like they were having so much fun. The next day when I was on my actual visit, Coach Nichols walked us around campus, showed us the athletic facilities and made me feel so at home.
After we were done touring, I went back to the soccer house and talked with a few of the players just about everything. We talked about the school, the team, pickleball – literally, everything. They were so sweet and kind and just made me feel very comfortable. After we talked with them, I took photos in the jersey and headed to lunch.
We went to lunch at this delicious pizza place and just talked some more with Coach Nichols. Then I heard the words, “We’d like to offer you a spot on the team here at Central Arkansas.”
I couldn’t breathe. I was so excited.
Coach Nichols had asked me to be a part of the team. This was my very first college offer and I was just so excited. I thanked him and told him I would get back to him as soon as I made my decision. We said our goodbyes and headed home.
From the moment I had that first call with Central Arkansas, I knew it was the place for me. From the excitement that it gave me, from how comfortable I felt on the visit, and from how much I loved the town, the campus, and the people – I just knew it was home.
So, about a week after my visit, while we were on spring break, I called Coach Nichols. I had just gotten home from a club practice. I went and sat on my parents’ bed and I built up the courage to press “call.”
The phone rang a few times and then he answered. I asked him how his day went and what he was up to, just normal phone conversation things. Then I got straight to the point and said, “I just wanted to let you know that I would love to be a Bear.”
I was shaking because I was so nervous. Then I heard the reassurance from Coach Nichols. He congratulated me and told me how he was so excited to have me on the team. After the phone call was over, I was so super excited. I started just smiling so big and got so happy.
Then it hit me, this wave of emotion. I just started crying. The weight of it all, the number of practices, games. The milestones I reached to get me here, they were all so worth it. I was finally realizing how hard I had worked to get to this spot.
And even though it wasn’t the prettiest journey and it was the easiest journey, it all was a part of God’s plan to get me to where I am now and I couldn’t be more happy. Go Bears!
