Madelynn Champ (9) has been playing soccer for around 12 years. Champ spends a lot of her time outside, kicking the ball around when she isn’t at soccer practice. Champ loves her soccer team, Lou Fusz Athletics, and looks forward to going to practice every Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and sometimes Fridays.   

Champ’s biggest inspiration for wanting to play soccer is her older brother. 

“My older brother has played soccer his whole life, and since he’s seven years older than me, I grew up watching him play all the time, and it really made me want to play also,” Champ said. 

Prior to starting soccer, Champ played softball, but found she didn’t enjoy it that much.

“…I found out that I liked more active sports and sports that involved more running and foot skills, along with more contact sports,” Champ said. 

While there are aspects of the game that she doesn’t enjoy, like when they lose a game or tournaments, there are parts that she really enjoys. 

“My favorite thing about soccer is definitely going to play the games and the technical skills you have to use and the running and stuff like that,” Champ said. 

While improving her soccer skills, she also has improved her social life by making new friends. 

“I’ve met a lot of new friends because I’ve switched teams a lot, so I gained a lot of friends playing soccer. Also, it’s made my schedule very busy and gave me more things to do during the week,” Champ said.

While playing, Champ finds that giving up can be easy, but it’s best to stick with it and try even harder. 

“I’ve learned that sometimes I might wanna give up, but then I always have to keep trying.  I also learned that I liked to run because at first I didn’t think I did, but I started to like it more,” Champ said. 

Though she plans to play for fun in college, Champ does not believe she will make a career out of soccer in her future. However, for younger kids playing soccer or anyone beginning to play soccer, she has some advice.

“My advice would be to train all day and every day as much as you can if you want to get really good and make it something you want in your future,” Champ said. “Also, don’t give up if it gets hard or think you don’t like playing anymore.”