Aisley Allen

What are you doing currently?

 I sort of lucked out with the pandemic! I was given another year of eligibility after my freshman fall season at Idaho State was cancelled. I entered the transfer portal after my last fall at Idaho State and found a school that would cater to my academic goals – I plan on attending medical school in the near future and sought out programs that would be beneficial in this endeavor. I ended up at the University of Minnesota on the Duluth campus, so right now I am getting my master’s degree and preparing for medical school!

 

How did Strikers shape you as a person? 

Playing Micro Strikers was my first experience in a team at age 5 or so. I think that Strikers is mainly responsible for my values of teamwork. This skill is something I lean on often and will for the rest of my career. I also think that playing competitive soccer at a younger age helped shape my time management skills which have been really helpful throughout my student-athlete career. Strikers fostered my competitive nature and my deep desire to succeed. Playing for a smaller club also allowed me to have personalized coaching and lifelong connections that I am so grateful for. 

 

How is high school/club soccer different from college soccer? 

College soccer is much more similar to a job than club and HS soccer are. My experience with college soccer was practice/games/travel 6 days a week for >3 or so hours per day. It is more physically + mentally demanding and requires a lot more time out of your week. In this sense, love for your sport and desire to be the best student-athlete you can be is tested. There is A LOT more pressure to succeed in all aspects of life – school, behavior, sports performance, etc. When people say that college sports are a grind, they are so right. If you can learn to love the journey of constantly growing both as a person and as an athlete, rather than focusing solely on the outcome, I truly believe you'll be able to thrive and succeed as a collegiate student-athlete. 

 

What were the key factors you considered when evaluating potential colleges? 

I was given really good advice from one of my high school basketball coaches – go where you are wanted. I think young athletes have a much better experience when they go to a team where they are really wanted and the coaching staff will go lengths to get you on their team. I spent a lot of time making my decision and it was really important to me that I found a place that had a wide range of study areas. My goal was to play Division 1 soccer, so the level of the school was also important to me. I knew I wanted to go out of state, but stay close enough that I could still connect with my family often. These characteristics really narrowed down where I wanted to go. 

 

What was the most challenging part of the recruiting process? The most challenging part of the recruiting process for me was self-promotion. I really struggled putting myself out there and talking about all the things I had done. This whole process was kind of “cringe-worthy” for me, especially finding the balance of humble bragging. Being on the other side of it, and seeing the way recruiting works from a different perspective, it is absolutely critical that you advocate for yourself and all that you have accomplished so far in life. Putting yourself out there by sending emails, attending high level tournaments, and going to camps is the best way to achieve your goals of playing in college. 

 

What advice would you give to younger athletes going through the recruiting process? I think the best advice I can give is to be patient and take your time. It is really easy to get caught up in the shiny things – especially given the current landscape of NIL and college sports. Stay focused on the characteristics and values that truly matter to you! It’s really important to set reasonable goals about the level of soccer (and the conference) that you want to play in; it was beneficial for me to go to trusted coaches and have honest conversations about where I could play. I also think that it is really beneficial to chat with other people that have actually gone through the process. A lot of people have really great advice, but the best advice I experienced came from people who have recently experienced this firsthand!

 

Your journey was unique in the sense that you played D1 and then D2 soccer. Can you say what that was like and what were some differences between levels?

I really enjoyed both of my experiences. Playing DI soccer is naturally much more competitive and requires a lot more time, commitment, and deep internal desire to persevere. Division 2 requires these same characteristics, but there is a little more wiggle room. D1 soccer comes with a lot more travel, flight trips, and overall more resources for you to balance the rigor of this student-athlete lifestyle. Given the nature of the transfer portal, coaches are always recruiting and there is a lot more player turnover these days. My D2 experience was really supportive of academics, and I felt like the balance between school and sport was a lot more even. (I could talk about this topic for hours…) 

 

What do high school athletes not understand about college sports? 

College sports are much more taxing and there are much fewer breaks than in HS. Emotionally, it is much more difficult in the sense that the pressure to perform is so much stronger – wins and losses carry a lot more weight than they do in HS/club, especially for coaches. There are also a lot more sacrifices that you have to make as a college athlete – social events, family events, and downtime are all things that you have to be okay with missing out on! Time management is absolutely paramount, it is really important that you can balance all of the different stressors in life while also achieving good grades and enduring the daily activities of being an athlete. Being a collegiate student-athlete carries a whole new responsibility in every aspect of life, but it is so worth it!

 

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

The best part of playing college sports is having an instant community of friends, coaches, and support staff that are present to cater to your needs. My best friends are the girls that I played college soccer with and the other athletes that I met along the way. 

The most challenging part is how fierce the competition is – everybody that plays in college was the best on their club/high school teams, so separating yourself is much more challenging. You really have to be “built different” to succeed in college, especially at a high level. 

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with high school athletes about the recruiting process, playing college soccer, college in general, or life after high school? 

Coming from Montana, there are a lot of people that will tell you it’s nearly impossible to play Division 1 soccer. I think that setting high goals for yourself, working relentlessly to achieve these goals, and surrounding yourself with people who support you makes anything achievable, even coming from a small state! I also think it is really important that young, college bound student athletes seek out information from others who have been through similar processes. Recruiting and playing college sports are ever-changing. Some of the best support I received was from my Strikers coaches that had recently been done playing college sports.