Oteta Kitiona '23 Recruiting Profile

The first time I played on any team was when I was 9 years old. I joined a basketball team and my first time playing was a game. A parent approached my mom to tell her I looked naturally athletic and asked if I play soccer. He coached those same girls in rec soccer and thought I would fit right in with them and he would love teach me. I played forward for him for 2 years and helped at keeper when needed. The next year he decided to take me with his daughter to try out for club teams. We didn't realize I had been playing up a year so when she made the Joga team I was cut for being too young. 

I took a year off soccer and turned to track. I have now qualified and competed in Jr Olympics National meets for 6 years.  In 2019 I took 1st place in the Pentathelon at the Youth National Championships along with 5th in long jump and 8th in discuss. 

I bring up track because it wasn't really my strong point when I started sports. The year I took off helped me focus on me and think about what I wanted. In the winter I found a soccer team called Roma FC. I did not understand Futsal and my ball handling indoors was terrible. I thought for sure they didn't want me. When the spring season started and we went outside my life came back. It was so natural for me to run up the sidelines full speed. Before our first game I was told I made a starter and would also be playing a year up with the older girls. I was terrified but I did that for 2 years. I finished the season as top scorer for the league and highest assists so my teammate was 2nd highest scorer in our league. Roma then merged with Ajax/Joga. This made me uncomfortable because Joga had already cut me. I was rostered with our Roma 05 team but was guest playing for 3 of the Ajax 04 teams as well.

By playing on so many teams I learned different coaching styles and how to work with many different players. I have learned to trust my teammates and I play to help them trust me. 

I had a coach tell me one time that he won't coach me during a game. He teaches me how to play in practice but in a game he watches me move so smoothly from reading my team and the other team that there is never a need because I naturally fill in to the best option no matter where I am on the field like the game was meant for me. 

As a freshman in high school I missed tryouts due to being at the Track Jr Olympics Nationals in California but the Sophomore coach had seen me play Club so he ran some tests when I got home and held a starting spot for me. Not long after, I was invited to play JV and Varsity.

My times in track have improved without going to practice so much because of soccer that the high school invited me to time trials as an 8th grader. I had the fastest 100m time for the girls. They also invited me to run indoor track for them. In the Jr High District meet I got 1st place in the 100m dash running a PR of 13.19 and a week later ran 13.18 in a developmental meet. 

My soccer schedule can be time consuming but I do have balance. Soccer and track are my family times. I am the middle of 5 kids with a single mom. We go to practices,  games, meets and tournaments together whenever we can. I taught my older and younger sisters how to play. Off season we also coach and ref younger kids together. Soccer is an hour from our house so we help each other  with homework on the drive and talk about everything. My family are my best friends but I am also close to my teammates and friends from school. 

I believe my future is with soccer. I play when I don't have to just because it makes me feel whole. While running at Nationals I clipped a hurtle and noticed pain in my knee. Because of our rush to meet with the high school soccer coach I didn't have time to get it checked. Toward the end of the soccer season I twisted my ankle. Pretty routine injury but I had finished physical therapy recently so we got it checked. The x-ray on my ankle looked good but the doctor noticed a freshly healed broken bone right below my knee. I had finished my track meet and played the entire soccer season on a broken leg and just used a patella band for support. It never slowed me down. I'm not careless. I play clean soccer to avoid hurting myself but I'm still aggressive. I take good care of myself and listen to my body.  I push hard in track meets and need time to recover but I am still waiting for the day when I push myself hard enough in soccer to burn out. I want to work that hard.

Becoming a physical therapist has become a new goal for me. After helping my siblings with injuries and having my own I have learned to love and respect my physical therapists. They taught me how to take care of myself to perform at my best and I want to share that knowhow with others. To help them succeed in their dreams just like I have been doing.