Ariana Aguerri '22 Recruiting Profile

Hello, I am from Nicaragua, a very small country in Central America. I am really passionate about soccer and would be thrilled to pursue it as a college sport. I play seven days a week to improve as much as I can, typically 2 and a half hours each day. 

I’m open to going to either a small, medium, or large school. My decision would depend on; if they offer the major that I want to pursue, if I would be able to keep playing soccer, and any financial aid they can help me out with. My main position is attacking midfielder, and I am really good at it because of several reasons: my technique, which includes my ball control and passing accuracy; my game intelligence, which includes my great spatial awareness, my tactical knowledge, and risk assessment; also, I am always in great physical shape because I am really passionate about the sport and even when I’m tired, I always find the strength to continue doing my best. Although I have all these special characteristics, the one that I consider the most important about myself is my mindset, because I put my heart and soul into everything I do and love such as learning and the sport. I perform well under pressure and if defeated, work even harder than I did before in order to achieve my goals. I am always motivating my teammates to do their best because as a team we work better than by ourselves. 

Ever since I was little, I have been playing soccer. It isn’t very usual to see girls playing soccer in my country, so I was always surrounded by boys and grew up wanting to play with them. I currently attend St. Augustine Preparatory School, which has grades PK3-12 and where I have studied since I was 4. I am currently in 10th grade and will be going to 11th grade this August. The school’s varsity coach noticed me while I was playing in 5th grade, and, the next year, I began practicing with the varsity team. This was unusual, as the varsity team is composed of the best high school players. In that same year, the varsity coach wanted to take me to the Central American AASCA tournament (Association of American Schools in Central America), but the host school didn’t allow me to go because of my age (I was in 6th grade). However, I was allowed to go to an all-sports AASCA tournament for middle school that year and won second place with my team.

 Two years after the initial attempt to go to AASCA Soccer, and after a lot of hard work and practice, the coach decided to take me to the tournament as an 8th grader, and this time it was permitted. I was one of the youngest in the tournament, if not the youngest, and it was the first time a small school had ever won the gold division then. I have been attending AASCA Soccer tournaments ever since, in addition to national tournaments, which we have won numerous times. In the field, I have played all positions except for the goalkeeper, and I’m best at attacking midfielder and forward, which are the positions that I am currently playing. Because the majority of players in the country are male, I often play recreational games with men where I am the only girl, which allows me to adapt to different styles of play. 

Ever since I started playing, I have played against prestigious teams such as Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras national soccer teams, and even though we haven't won, we have either tied or come close to winning several of these. Always practicing more, to achieve better results next time.

It is my dream to play soccer in college and I will work hard to achieve it.