BY HANNAH MUSICK (18’)

Many teens that play a sport in high school dream of being on a college team when they graduate.
Not only is it difficult to make the team in high school, college is a whole new level of skill and dedication. One girl who dreams of making it big in the soccer career is Natalie Pireu.
Pireu has been on the varsity soccer team for 3 years now. She also plays on the OP soccer club team.
Playing college soccer is a day to day dedication that is much different than a high school sport.
“In a normal college visit you meet the coach and the team and you get to tour the campus. You can watch practices or a game. If it’s an overnight visit you get to see what the team does and who they their friends are, which helps you judge the college and see if it’s a good fit for you,” said Pireu.
In order to determine which college is best for you, especially when it comes to playing a sport in college it would be nice to visit many campus and see which one is right for you.
“I have been to two overnight visits and nine regular day visits, said Pireu. My favorite college is West Virginia Wesleyan.”
Playing a college sport can be very difficult. the level of soccer is a lot harder and the teams are a lot more challenging to play against.
“Playing college soccer it takes dedication, hard work, time commitment love for the sport and athletic ability,” said Pireu.
Finding a college can be a lot harder too because you have to base the college you want to go to not only the team and the level of the soccer but also what you want to major in.
“I would love to go into physiology and criminal justice as a career path,” said Pireu.
Despite the work that is required, Pireu sees many benefits to committing to play a college sport. “I recommend people to play a sport in college because it helps with time management skills, leadership skills and other life skills that will help you later on in life. Another good thing is it keeps you in shape,” said Pireu.

College soccer and sports in general is not for everybody. The ones that put in the most work and dedication to the sport are the ones who will succeed. Pireu certainly seems to be part of a select group that is more than willing to put in the hours of hard work that it takes to be the best.