Throughout my recovery process, I feared that I would never be as good as I was before. I feared that I would no longer be able to go to Stanford. I feared that the pain in my patellar tendon would never go away. It felt like my whole identity was wrapped up in being a soccer player and that was ripped away from me.
During my time as a youth referee, I faced verbal insults from sideline spectators and even from a coach who once called me “stupid.”
Just like youth officials, athletes face challenges and pressures they may not yet be equipped to handle.
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“WHEN I FIRST COMMITTED TO PLAY COLLEGIATE SOCCER AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, I KNEW THAT THE ACADEMIC PRESSURE WOULD BE INTENSE. IN FACT, IT WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MY DECISION– I HAVE ALWAYS THRIVED IN
CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS, AND HAD ALREADY EXPERIENCED A MICROCOSM OF WHAT THE STUDENT-ATHLETE
EXPERIENCE WOULD BE LIKE.”
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“The duality of the rise of Women’s Sports juxtaposed with the fall of women’s rights is a metaphor for what's going on in the female youth soccer space. And sadly, with the landscape of our sport we are seeing a decline in club loyalty, a lack of importance placed on team camaraderie and a rise of toxic teammates.The good news is, we can make positive changes through our response to these issues.”
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