I started playing soccer when 4 years old, because I didn’t like gymnastics. I was the only girl on the parent coached, 5-a-side team that I played on for 3 seasons. I loved playing with the boys and cried when I had to move to a girls u7 team. Just before I turned 7, some of my friends told me that they were trying out for the for the club’s u9 Youth Academy. I was too young, but I wanted to play with my friends, so my parents called and got permission to “give tryouts a shot.”
I guess I did well, because joined the academy program as the club’s 1st u7 academy player. Before long I was playing a double schedule on weekends, playing up with the “top” youth academy squad and also being a playmaker for the u8 teams on age. I’m told I would ask before each game “Is this a ‘scoring game’ or a ‘helping game’?”
In fall of 2017, my club formed the “Grey team,” which was a like a pre-ECNL team, where we played up a year in NCYSA. Over the next 3 years I received the best coaching of my youth soccer career, and we were the number one u12 and u13 team in the state. Playing bigger, stronger girls taught us to play as a team and not rely on athleticism.
About that time, I also started playing with the North Carolina Olympic Development Program. I consistently started as Center Forward with the “NC1” team throughout my 6 years in the program, and was selected for the South Region Camp every year that North Carolina sent 07 players. During my 3rd trip to the camp, u17, I was selected to play on the South Region Team at the ODP Inter-regionals for the 1st time; where we went 3-0 and I led the team in scoring with 2 goals and had 2 assists. Finally following my 2nd selection to the South Region Team as a u19 player I was selected for the ODP National Team and had the opportunity to play in Spain.
I played high school soccer too. My high school has won the league title every year except one since it opened and it has always been difficult for a freshman to make varsity, but my freshman year they decided to take no freshman at all. I played JV as a freshman and it ended up being the best thing that could have happened for me. I took the opportunity to learn to be a leader, on and off the field. I played the 10 and led the team in scoring with 16 goals in 12 games and gave many of the halftime speeches. We went 12-0 with no goals allowed and had the 1st perfect season in the history of the school. This experience made me think much more about the strategy of the game, made me more comfortable holding my teammates accountable, and made me much more vocal on the field. My sophomore year I was the only underclassman starter and played the 6 all year. I missed much of my junior year due to recovery from shoulder surgery.
I was always identified as a “good” player and often opposing teams often adjusted their line-ups and game plans because of me, but until my senior year I had never received a formal award or all-star selection in club or in high school. As a senior I was selected as a team captain for the 1st time and received my 1st ever soccer awards being named to the East West All-star and the Clash of the Carolina’s All-star games, in addition to the ODP National Select team.
I am a creative, attacking player with great fitness. I usually play as a false 9 or attacking mid. I like to control the pace of the game and the influence the other teams build up. I can slow the game down, by holding the ball in transition or using my physical play to draw a foul and create set piece opportunities. While I have never been known as a “fast” player, offensively I can play fast with a great first touch and the ability to find my teammates in 1 or 2 touches. Defensively I use my fitness to press the keeper and backs, keeping them one-sided, forcing mistakes.
The area of my game that I get complemented on the most is my ball striking. I take pride in delivering accurate long passes, crosses and set pieces, into dangerous areas. Additionally have worked to develop a powerful shot that has been clocked in excess of 68 mph.
In the fall of 2023, I was offered the opportunity to play for my first choice school at UNC Wilmington. I knew UNCW was where I wanted to be during the 1st ID camp I attended my freshman year. I loved the campus, the coaches, the team, the city and really… who doesn’t want to go to college 3 miles from the beach?
I am proud to be a seahawk #HawkYeah!
Facts About Me
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Birthday
August 27, 2007
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Hometown
Cornelius, NC
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Favorite Hobby
Weight Lifting
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Favorite Foods
Smoothies, Sushi
& Chicken Wings
Birthday
August 27, 2007
Hometown
Cornelius, NC
Favorite Hobby
Weight Lifting
Favorite Foods
Smoothies, Sushi
& Chicken Wings
Important Social Causes
Stop CMV
CMV is a common virus that infects people of all ages, regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic class, and most people have been exposed to CMV at some point in their lifetime without their knowledge. In fact, it is estimated that 50-80% of adults in the United States have been infected with CMV by the time they reach 40 years old. Once CMV is in a person’s body, it stays there for life. If mother is infected while she is pregnant, the virus can be passed to the baby as Congenital CMV.
Congenital CMV affects one in every 200 babies born each year (approximately 30,000 children annually), making it the most common congenital viral infection in the United States. Furthermore, one in every five children born with congenital CMV will develop permanent health problems (roughly 6,000 children) with as many as 400 infant deaths annually. Nearly 90% of infants born with congenital CMV appear healthy at birth, and the vast majority will not have any visible symptoms or long-term issues, however for infants born with symptoms, health problems or disabilities caused by congenital CMV infection can sometimes appear years after birth. In fact, more children will have disabilities due to congenital CMV than other well-known infections and syndromes, including Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Spina Bifida, and Pediatric HIV/AIDS.
My mother is a Pediatrician and was exposed to CMV at work. I was born symptomatic, but it was only caught due to research that was being conducted at the hospital. The doctors told my parents that I would likely be deaf, blind and need to be feed with a feeding tube… thankfully they were wrong! My only issues was poor muscle tone, which I have overcome with exercise and hard work, and short-term memory issues and dyslexia, that I have overcome with early intervention and learned educational strategies.
Dyslexia Awareness
Dyslexia is a neurological condition, caused by a different wiring of the brain, that makes reading more difficult and can be a problem in school. There is no cure for dyslexia and individuals with this condition must learn coping strategies. Some researcher even say the way individuals with dyslexia think can actually be an asset in achieving success.
I have seen articles that say that individuals with dyslexia make up more than 50% of self made millionaires; and that a dyslexics brain tends to excel in visual-spatial areas, recognizing patterns, thinking “big picture” and entrepreneurship. I believe this is because successful individuals with dyslexia have had to learn to out-work their peers and find alternative ways to learn and complete tasks.
My parents knew to look out for my dyslexia because of my cCMV and I got help early. They worked with me to help me be successful in school and laughed off poor grades when I struggled; focusing instead on areas that I succeeded and the effort I gave to be successful. One of the strategies that helped me was pairing physical movement with studying and I logged countless hours with my father passing back and forth or shooting while being quizzed in my backyard.
I attribute some of my technical ability to the extra reps I got studying and a lot of my soccer IQ to the way my brain is wired. Dyslexia may have turn out to be a benefit for me, but that is due to the early help I received and the way it was approached by my family. For many kids it framed as a negative and they don’t receive the help and support they need, leading to a poor outcome. This is why I believe that dyslexia awareness and education is such a valuable cause.
Cancer Research
With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men being diagnosed with cancer in thier lifetime, almost everyone will be impacted by it eventually.
Both of my parents are survivors. My father was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer at 19 and my mother was part of the 1 in 8 women that are diagnosed with breast cancer.
The research has done a lot, treatment and survival rates have improved, but obviously there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
Girls Soccer Development
For me soccer has been physical therapy, a study aid, and a place where my dyslexia has been an advantage. It has been motivation, to keep my grades up, to exercise, and to eat healthy. And it has been a way to make friends from all over the country.
I was lucky that I had a family that prioritized my soccer with their time and could afford to let me play soccer ECNL and ODP soccer, receive private coaching, and made sure I had access to everything I needed to be successful.
My father saw the benefits it gave me, and helped fund camps and girls soccer in Jamaica when I was younger. He is now on the board of I Got Next Jamaica-USA and it has given me the chance to help coach clinics for the foundation.
The summer prior to my senior year I had the chance to work for the First Touch youth soccer development camp near Charlotte and I want to continue helping youth players while I am in college and during my career.