While other varsity soccer players are focusing on college, senior Leul Mesfin is taking extra classes and working to graduate early. Mesfin was offered the opportunity to play for the Chievo Verona academy team.
“I got this offer from a club team in Italy. I spent last summer in London playing soccer, and after that, a lot of people got my contact information. So then this club was talking to me, and they [said] I could come to Italy next semester,” Mesfin said. “They offered the full year, but I could only do the one semester. They said I could play soccer and that it would be like a trial for the team. It’s a huge way to develop.”
Mesfin says that he is not the best player and that there are definitely better players out there, so he was surprised when he was given the opportunity to travel to London and play with West Ham.
“They hold camps around North America to find players, so I attended one of those, and they liked me so they invited me to their national camp, which was the best players from the camps. From there they chose about three kids to come to London, to play with West Ham and try to work with them,” Mesfin said.
He is motivated by his childhood dreams of pursuing soccer as a career, but is nervous about such a big opportunity.
“It’s really scary. It’s a really big deal. I was never expecting to be invited there. It was only offered because someone saw me in London,” Mesfin said. “I find it nerve racking because every child dreams of something like this happening to them, and then when it actually does it’s like…oh God.”
In terms of his future after soccer, he has yet to decide what he wants to do.
“I have not decided where I want to go to college, but I have gotten a lot of emails and offers. I’ve also gotten invited to camps to get scouted by the schools, but I’ve been putting it off because college is stressful,” Mesfin said.
Despite the high stakes and constant pressure, Mesfin says he has never, and would never, consider quitting soccer.
“You don’t know who I truly am without the soccer part. So if I were to ever quit, it would be taking a part of me away. I play because I love it. I love it a lot. It’s my passion, and I look forward to doing it every day,” Mesfin said.
![Holding the disc, senior Nathan Thompson waits for an opportunity to pass to senior Timmy Fry. Parkway United’s ultimate frisbee team is made up of students from each of the four Parkway schools. “The one thing I really like about ultimate [frisbee] is the community because it’s so different from any other sport I've been a part of. [My] national teammates are people who we play against in the regular season, so we see each other all the time. It's always fun hanging out with [them],” Thompson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/C96A6823-1200x800.jpg)
![Senior Josie Grunzinger watches the football game intently from the sidelines on Oct. 18. Grunzinger stood out to the crowd as the only girl on the football team, encouraging other girls who want to play football to take a chance and go for a sport outside of their comfort zone. “If you think you could [play football] and you want to do it, just try it, because all it takes is to actually try it out,” Grunzinger said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Untitled-design-1200x675.png)
![With her arms held high, junior Jenna Rickelman throws the ball across the pool during a girls water polo practice. With hours of practice after school and over the summer, Rickelman saw many improvements in her water polo skills. “When I look at [my] stats, I'm so much better than I was last year,” Rickelman said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Untitled-design-2-.png)
![Putting on his helmet, catcher and senior Tommy Eschbach prepares to get in his primary stance. Despite losing 6-1 against Eureka on April 16, Eschbach didn’t let the tough loss affect his playing or mental health. “It's [so] easy to get caught up in the sport and what you're doing that [after] one bad game or a stretch of games it is hard to remind yourself that your worth as a person isn't directly related to your performance on the field,” Eschbach said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0415-1-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Sports organizations have changed lives on and off the field, improving athletes’ muscle strength, reducing their risk of diseases and building energetic work capacity worldwide. However, many student-athletes struggle to balance schoolwork and athletic commitments, hoping to seek more understanding and support from their teachers and coaches. “To lessen mental strain student-athletes [face] and create a healthier, more comfortable lifestyle, there shouldn’t be any homework. I'm already [at school] for eight hours and [homework] creates a bigger load for student-athletes in AP or honors classes,” track and field sprinter and sophomore Lucy Penton said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0095-1-e1713883278514-1200x847.jpg)
![At the Spring Pep Rally on March 8, boys varsity water poloist and junior Jack Brau stands with the boys water polo team. The group, hoping to include everyone — whether boy or girl, varsity or JV — cheered on the girls water polo team during the sports team runouts. “Even though we all play separate games and have different practices, we like to see ourselves as one big group who represent one water polo [team],” Brau said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_8810-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Looking for an open teammate, freshman Patrick May passes the ball across the court at the Nov. 28 game against Parkway Central. May started in the game against the Colts. ”Growing up, [my parents] always gave me a basketball, [and] we had a basketball hoop outside. I grew up playing [all the time], playing on the [driveway] and shooting hoops with my dad.” May said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image2-1-1200x801.jpg)
