Fiona McCormick '21 Recruiting Profile

I have loved soccer since I began playing just after first grade in Buxton, ME.  I started in rec soccer and played there until I was old enough to begin club soccer with Seacoast United, where I played until my family moved to Tampa, FL just before I started 8th grade.  Looking back now, it is still crazy to remember playing games in sleet and snow and the freezing cold as a little girl.   Moving to Florida proved to have it's own challenges.  When my family decided to move, my mother contacted TBU to see if I could join a team in the club here.  Little did we know how competitive soccer is in Florida!!!!  And that tryouts were already over!!!!  The club connected her to the coach of the top team of my age group and he asked if I would be willing to come down for soccer camp at the University of Tampa with his U11 team.  My mom asked me what I thought and I told her I thought I should do it even though I was so scared.  A month later I was on a plane flying by myself for the first time, to a place I didn't know, to try out with a team I didn't know.  I was terrified.  And when I got to Tampa, I was overwhelmed by the heat.  None the less, I jumped in and did my best and that night the coach called my mom to say he wanted me on his team.  Looking back now, I realize how much grit, courage and determination that experience required and I have continued to try to bring that to every level of my soccer journey since then.  I have also realized that two of my greatest assets on the field, in addition to the precision on my play, are my personality and my leadership.  As a defender, I see everything happening on the pitch and have an excellent eye for the game which allows me to be a leader on the field - encouraging and directing my teammates - in a way that they respond to.  For the past two years, my teammates have elected me Captain, which I hope demonstrates the value I bring.