Sophia Castillo '20 Recruiting Profile

The things that have scoped me in being the athlete that I am today was being able to train since the age of six.  Playing in a soccer team full of boys and being the only girl was never easy. I constantly had to prove my self and others that as a girl I was capable of playing as good as they did. My dad thought me the skills have leadership, discipline, and concentration to be able to bring the best of me as a player. With my constant practices I was able to become the best defense in the boys soccer team, and this started to open doors for me despite being a female.  Being only nine years old I was recruited by my neighbor border town, Reynosa Tamaulipas to play a national tournament in Villahermosa, Mexico.  This experiences made a profound impact on me,  because I started to observe other boys play and learned new techniques that could possibly help me.  When I was in middle school my parents got divorced and our income as a family was not the best. My mom was in and out of the hospital due to some severe health issues and my dad was never there. I learned how to cope with not being able to play soccer because we could not afford my soccer equipment nor the tournaments.  After my mom recuperated from her health we started to sell clothes in my towns flea markets. With this little extra income we were able to pay for some of my soccer expenses. The soccer team that I was playing on was made up of girls who had the same goal as I did. Which was to play collegiate, however, the only difference between them and I was that their parents were fully supportive when it came to the income aspect. I had to work hard to be able to pay my expenses and appreciate and make the most out of my soccer cleats. Then I became involved with my schools soccer team my freshmen year, playing varsity in the center back defense position.  I was able to be a team player and help my team mates by teaching them the techniques I had learned in the previous years. My coach also gave me the opportunity to help him position the girls for a better outcome when it came to attacking and defending. This would be my second year playing varsity and first as a captain. My sophomore year has thought me to be a well rounded student by being involved with my community and excelling at my academics. My current goals are to better myself as an overall student by achieving top 10% of my graduating class and improving my skills as a