Elaina Pierce

What are you doing currently? 

I am currently living in Salt Lake City and working as a Geological Technician for the Utah Geological Survey. I am also working on applications to graduate schools.

 

A Houseful of soccer players…..What was it like growing up together? Did you all know you wanted to play soccer in college? 

Growing up together was one of the best things and I am so incredibly grateful to have the siblings that I do. We obviously did our fair share of fighting but we have grown past that point and have become the best of friends. We all participated in many different sports growing up but soccer is the one that ended up sticking for all of us. I personally didn’t really seriously consider or know that we wanted to be college soccer players until just before high school.

 

How have each of you influenced one another (On the field or off)? 

All three of us have different strengths, both on and off the field, and so being able to see those different strengths in action has helped us each grow as individuals. On the field, we all played different positions and so we were able to get advice from each other about different aspects of the game. It was also nice to always have somebody to workout with, especially when we all had our summer training packets for our college teams and needed some extra motivation.

 

How did Strikers shape you as a person? 

Playing for Strikers taught me many important things that were relevant both on and off the field. The most important thing I took away from Strikers though was learning how to be a leader and a member of a cohesive and successful team. I learned to understand that each individual is different and take advantage and value each of those differences to create successful individuals and a successful team as a whole.

 

What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process when looking for a college? 

For me, the most challenging part of the recruiting process was figuring out when and where to start. All of the different possibilities and options of schools felt pretty daunting so I had to think about regions that I wanted to live in before even beginning to think about the sports side of things.

 

What do high school athletes not understand about college sports? 

You may be going into college being familiar with a certain position but that doesn’t play as big of a role when you are in college. A coach may want to utilize you in a new position that you are totally unfamiliar with and the process of learning this new position in a new environment can feel scary but more often than not the coach is doing this because they see strengths in you playing that position.

 

What was the best part of playing college sports? What was the hardest part? 

The best part about playing college sports was the immediate friendships and sense of community that you gain from day one. It makes entering a new environment much less intimidating.

The hardest part about college sports was the scheduling and time management aspect. It was often overwhelming to sort out how I was going to get classes, practices, meetings, games, travel trips, make-up labs, and work all in during each week.

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with high school athletes?

The biggest thing that I would share is that don’t just choose a college based on the sports program that they have. Sports can be unpredictable and injuries happen, so you want to make sure you are at a school that you are going to enjoy and be happy at even if your sport is “taken away” for a period of time.