As a little kid I wanted to do everything my brother did. He’s a year and a half older than me so we’re fairly close in age. My dad put us both in every sport when we were younger and I usually ended up playing with him on his team. When he started playing soccer, I was immediately intrigued and wanted to play. I remember being on his pee-wee team when we were really little and scoring goals against the older boys. The feeling of scoring and just being part of a team stuck with me. I fell in love at an early age with the feeling I got having a ball at my feet. It gave me a different sort of confidence. I would spend hours juggling outside until it was dark then moved myself inside until I somehow managed to break something in the house… As much fun as I was having playing soccer, it also helped feeling like I naturally had a gift to play the sport. I just kept wanting to play more and more and luckily soccer kept providing me with opportunities.
Being an athlete has taught me so many things but I guess to break it down to one main message – I would have to say that it’s taught me how to adapt. I think adaptability is one of the greatest gifts a person can possess in life in order to achieve success. Sometimes you get thrown into new positions on the field that you’ve never played before and it’s the weirdest sensation of the unknown – kind of like can throw at you sometimes. As an athlete I had to learn to adapt to new players, new teams, new styles, new countries and ways of living. It’s a never ending game of adaptation and I’m forever thankful for it because I think life is all about how well we can learn to adapt to any situation I’m in.
I’m usually a starter, a key player, a 90 minute player. Since I got to the pros, it’s been a little different and I had to realize that me being on the sideline more than I usually am doesn’t take away any of the value I am as a soccer player or person. What helped me was the realization that no matter what – I always have a role to play on a team. It’s up to us to figure out that role. If I’m a starter, I better give all I have until I can’t anymore. If I go in at the 70th minute, I better go in with force looking to be that super sub. If I’m the water girl, I better make sure that water is chilled and ready. If I might not be playing that game for whatever reason, I better still support my teammates and be the best teammate I can. See, we always have a role to be our bests at whatever it is we have to do.
Knowing who I am beyond soccer took me a long time to figure out… but I’m thankful I finally did. I finally realized that simply enough – I’m a human before I am a soccer player. I realized that life is more about who we are than what we are. People won’t remember our soccer skills and how many goals we scored before they remember how you acted as a human. I would like to be defined by how kind I was and not how many goals I scored. I would like to be defined by how hard I worked rather than how many assists I got. People will always remember how they were treated by you. So my advice – whether you’re a 90 minute player or a 20 minute player – treat your teammates with confidence, good work ethic, support and kindness.
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What’s something you love to learn about?
I went to school for advertising which was so fun to me but in general – I love learning about peoples stories of their life. Also big topics for me are health, nutrition and the street culture side of fashion and sport.
What’s your go-to way to stay active?
As a pro athlete, my job is basically to stay active and healthy. I train everyday and on off days I love to take walks around the neighborhood or cool parks.
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
I actually don’t like ice cream haha
Words you live by?
Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.
Better every day. Small steps every day.
Would you rather vacation in the mountains or on the beach?
Hmm both!! But I love love love the beach
