Christina Echeverri '21 Recruiting Profile

I started soccer when I was considered too old. I was 11 years old starting on an AYSO team, and joined my first club team when I was 13 years old. I started playing goalkeeper because of my dad. He played and trained in college and at first I thought nothing of the position, but then I fell in love with it. When you view my profile encourage you to understand that my height does not define me as a goalkeeper. I would often make that mistake in my early stages, but at the end of the day through my now almost 4 years of goalkeeping experience, height really doesn’t matter. It’s one of the most valuable lessons that I had to learn a lot of the times the hard way. Being so much shorter than my competition it often led me to self doubt my strengths. But the position is not only about height. My footwork, my agility, my ability to get low balls, my quickness, my assertiveness, my reflexes, and my team-player attitude has led to some referring to me as 'tiny but mighty'. What sets me apart from others that play this position IS my height. I have worked extra hard to make up for any lost inches and gained the mental and competitive strength in order to do so. Because of this, I worked with the height I was given and was able to carry my team through a league championship as well as several tournament championships. 

Although I do love winning, winning isn't everything at the end of the day. I feel that losses (failures) are vital in anything in life. I am able to learn from these failures and help better myself and my team. My teammates and my coach have my full respect and maintaining this trust and mutual respect is very important to me. I will continue this attitude anywhere that I play in the future. 

Soccer is a big part of my life in tandem with academics. I wish to thrive in a college environment that will help my develop in soccer and architecture.  I work hard on every single class, test, quiz, homework that I have had and strive for the best in my grades and my learning abilities. I make sure not only to achieve my goals in regards to grades but also to be able to learn from any experiences. This often makes some people call me a perfectionist which results in the same attitude on the field. Because of this, to continue my growth, I work really hard and will listen to any feedback in order to develop my knowledge, mental strength, and confidence . 

Thank you for looking at my profile and learning a little bit about me.