Gianna Mele '26 Recruiting Profile

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to view my profile. My name is Gianna Mele and I live in Edgewater, NJ. I am a junior at Leonia High School and recently completed my first year playing soccer for the 2024 season on the Leonia Women's Varsity soccer team as a winger and left mid. I was originally a competitive varsity dancer for 5 years until I developed a knee disorder called Patella Malalignment in both my right and left knee which resulted in months of physical therapy and hyaluronic gel injections. My experience with dance helped me learn the importance of dedication, resilience, teamwork, trust, and communication. I was always taught that the effort you put in is the results you will see and that practice is not all about perfection but also about progress.

Apart from my experience with dance, I have always been very athletic growing up. I did ballet when I was younger and horseback riding, jiu-jitsu, gymnastics, karate, and snowboarding. Coming to terms with the fact that fact that dance was no longer going to be a part of my life was a challenging, yet eye-opening experience. I was constantly being told by friends to join the women's soccer team so they would have enough players for a team since they lost 10 players the season before because they had graduated. 

The moment I had my first practice and my first game I felt a new level of competitiveness and a dedication and desire to push myself to work hard to better my skills. Although it is my first year playing soccer I was able to start in many games as one of the only inexperienced soccer players on my team and maintain a play time of 40 minutes or more. When it comes to being on the field my focus is 100% on the game and nothing else. I can effectively play both left and right winger and I am known to be a player that does not back down. Even after getting knocked to the ground and pushed and shoved I have never backed down. I continue to fight for the game and my teammates which my coaches have said is a strong quality of mine. I have been told I make strong passes and playing winger has allowed me to combine speed, skill, and strategy in games. At the end of my season as well as past practices my coach came up to me to tell me that I was the most improved on the team and that the effort I had put in was being shown. I had worked hard to improve my dribbling skills and maintain ball control as well as taking time to work on my shooting skills. My coaches and teammates have acknowledged the immense amount of growth I have made in a short amount of time which I will continue to do to reach my goals. An important aspect of the game in my eyes is always remembering to encourage and motivate my teammates no matter if we are winning or losing. In the end, we win as a team and we lose as a team being connected with my teammates and being able to see them as a family brought me to love the sport more than I already did. I plan on continuing to train hard to be the best I can be by trying out for the club soccer team Vikings FC to prepare myself for my future in soccer. 

I am not only a dedicated athlete, but I am also a dedicated student. My education is incredibly important to me and being a student-athlete taught me so much about balance. I have maintained a 3.6 GPA and plan on going to college for Psychology and Neuroscience and then continuing to medical school to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist. I am currently taking anatomy, AP psychology, sociology, and human geography to gain as much knowledge as possible in the field I want to go into. I plan on becoming a teacher's assistant my senior year for Intro to Psychology to help younger students gain not only knowledge but love for psychology. I prioritize being an active member in my school and community and I am currently in the ski & snowboard club, ASL club, yearbook club, empowered Minds mental health club, service club, Girl Up, future Health Medical Professionals club, and was in the art academy for two years. I enjoy branching out and exploring all the different types of extracurricular activities my school offers while making sure to be an active participant in every single one while also participating in events outside of my school to give back to my community. I want to attend a college where I can push myself not only with my education but with soccer as well. 

I am open to all options available and ultimately want to find a college that will provide strong academic services to help balance my education and sport while also having coaches who will prioritize athletic development on and off the field. I hope to become an even stronger athlete and teammate in the future and I will make it continue to make an effort to be a committed athlete and student.