It's having the mental fortitude to get scored on a million times and to keep going . And to keep that energy up , especially most of the time we are the leaders on the field , whether that's communication wise or overall just energy in the back , and your team's gonna look at you and they need someone that is mentally strong and emotionally strong for them . And that is the majority of goalkeeping advice I would give to younger athletes and especially to my younger self , and I've told so many people this so many times because it's the best advice that I can ever give is to believe in yourself and don't listen to the outside noise .
It is all the moments leading up to it where you're sitting around a bonfire with your team in the middle of a beach and you're looking around like , how is this my life and how are these people around me and you're just really Enjoying it and you're enjoying the grind of soccer and you're enjoying . Just life um with your teammates , and I think that's one of the biggest lessons learned to take that step back . Soccer will be a huge part of your life and really any sport , and to really take that step back and it's not just soccer on the field , but it's entirely a way of life and who you're around .
Yes , they can't reach out to you directly , but they can reach out to a coach . And so I had joined this team where every single person had already known , OK . Colleges can't reach out directly , but once they can , I know exactly where I'm going to go , and here I was like , OK , well I was just asked to join because the other goalie had a concussion and you need a goalkeeper .
So my college process is very unique and that it was very slow and very Doubtful at times and times where I wanted to quit and then all of a sudden things just work out and you get the exposure and you get in front of them and so I think that taught me a big lesson on a delay in life is not always a deny in life and what's meant to be will always be . I think being in the college environment , you learn a lot on and off the field from the moment you step into the locker room the first time and every day that you're there , and one of the biggest lessons that I've learned doesn't even come really from soccer , but it was when I attended my first day at preseason last year and for our women's soccer team , we had 14 seniors . And you hop in and they treat you like you're their child , and all of a sudden , you kind of take a step back and one of the greatest gifts I think of college sports is that your team becomes your family and the biggest lesson that I've learned so far is to really enjoy the people that you are around and to enjoy your teammates because the memories as much as winning a Big 10 Conference championship is one of the greatest memories of my life .
Just life um with your teammates , and I think that's one of the biggest lessons learned to take that step back . Soccer will be a huge part of your life and really any sport , and to really take that step back and it's not just soccer on the field , but it's entirely a way of life and who you're around . Advice to a goalkeeper will always be mentally , that is the game .
