Weaving the ball through the field, junior Kathryn Hardy makes her way to the goal. With a touch to the right, she sends a shot through to the corner of the net, and… score!
These moments have been...
In seventh grade, freshman Erastus Adewusi and his family stepped off a plane into America after living in Nigeria for 11 years. His mother landed a job in St. Louis as a contract nurse. After picking...
Moments before disaster, families watch their televisions as Spain’s women's soccer team clamors and cheers at their victory over England for the coveted Federation Internationale de Football (FIFA)...
Arms pumping, heart pounding and sweat dripping, senior Julia Liguore dribbles toward the goal. She spins around one, two, three players before shooting the ball, which swooshes up against the back of...
![Walking onto the field, freshman Erastus Adewusi wears a pink jersey in remembrance of cancer awareness month. With the number seven on his jersey, Adewusi reflects on his life in Nigeria before moving to America. “I [used to wake up] at 5:30 a.m. and school would end at 5 p.m. [versus] now,” Adewusi said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0029-1200x800.jpg)
![“My goal for soccer this season is not only to improve in skill, but also to improve my way of communication. [To] not always put the blame on myself since a team [improves together]. So my goal [coming into the team] was to not be so harsh on myself and to know that not the whole team depends on [me]. We all work as a team, and everyone [plays] a different [role]. The most exciting game this season was the first game, even though we lost it was like an exciting experience because it was the first game and it was nice seeing all my friends playing on the field together. I really improved my communication [skills]. My goal is to continue to strengthen my [ability of] communication [with the team] and to also improve my skill [at playing soccer].” - Ali Abdulsattar, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/pasted-image-0-1200x800.png)
![“I like that I'm able to socialize with all my friends at sports practices. I would say one of my biggest setbacks has been the summer between seventh and eighth grade when I injured my foot and I was unable to play with my soccer team [during] state cup for two games. My soccer team. That [experience] was definitely [a bad time for me] and it really did not make me feel good. [During this period of my life], A piece of advice [was given to me by] one of my soccer coaches who told me to ‘have the memory of a goldfish’. So the idea of this is that it's good to learn from your mistakes, but you can learn from them too much [and not value the life lessons in the midst]. That's really changed how I go about school sports, friendships, all that sort of stuff because you can't live in the past [and will have to move on to the future]. I think that getting past mistakes and moving on from them can really benefit you in the long run.” -Cal Kampelman, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/calkampelman-1200x790.jpg)
![”High school so far has been fun. It's not as stressful and I'm not as nervous as I thought I would be. My favorite part about high school so far has been journalism. I like journalism because it gives you the freedom to use your strengths in different ways. I also enjoy algebra. Not a lot of people like math, but I find it really fun. I have a really good teacher and I think that helps a lot with liking a class. I play golf, soccer, and volleyball. Soccer probably [means the most] because I've played it for a very long time. [It is special] because I can relate to people in my family. My brother plays soccer, my dad used to play and it's fun for the whole family to go watch it or play it together. Something that's important to me is getting good grades because I want to go to college. I want to have the best grades that I can [have] so I can set myself up for success. As of right now, I want to be some sort of photographer. Right now I'm really into concert photography [because] it looks really fun. Photography is special to me because you just get to capture moments in time and you can share things that people don’t get to see.” - Laney Thomas, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Untitled-9-1200x800.jpg)
![“The best advice I’ve learned from a sport is that the sport depends on you and so does your team, but it doesn't define you. I learned this about a year ago, when my team [the AFA Fillies] was having a chat on the way out of a tournament. I recently played goalie [for soccer] and I took a lot of the blame on myself but I can't let that define or stop me. So I have to work harder to get back to my original position. It changed my perspective from not wanting to go to practices, or not wanting to put in the work at home to motivating myself to do those things. My mom also told me something similar [making] me think that if two people are telling me to do it for me, then they’ve got to be right. People should learn that you should work hard at your sport, but make sure that it doesn't affect what you do in your life and [how you] play. I've been putting in work nonstop and it’s paying off. So I would also [tell] to anyone struggling with getting motivated that if you just push yourself to do it, you’ll eventually have to depend on it.”
-Faith Mosher, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/faith.jpeg)