Where are you from?
Flint Michigan. Lived in Ann Arboe, Philly, Cincinnati, Vancouver, BC and now So Cal.
When did you began to play soccer?
I started at age 12, which seems late. Grew up playing multiple sports. Hockey, figure skating, boys baseball. I picked up soccer late, but it seemed to stick.
Did someone influence you to start?
Yes, Mike Schultz who worked for a school in my community. He was picking up my neighbor to go play soccer and they needed some more players for their summer league. I tried it and was pretty good and made a summer all-star team my first year. I literally jumped into Mr. Schultz’s station wagon one day and now soccer is my life. Things were much more simple back then.
Carrie Taylor-
Laguna United Football Club
While growing in the sport was there a soccer player you looked up to?
Back then when I was playing, I had a guy friend named Ricky who was kind of a mentor for me. He would help me train and was always pushing me. We are still good friends today and I know he always has my back. When I got to college I got a poster of the women’s national team. It is pretty cool now that I think of it as I was able to be coached by two women on that poster and get to know two others since moving to Cali. Debbie Belkin and Linda Hamilton were two of my coaches, and I got to meet Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett in Cali. Linda was my biggest influence. She was only 4 years older than me when she was my coach and I got to watch her train on her own without national team training camps and without a lot of financial support for the 94 Olympics. Linda was my mentor, my friend and she is coming out from Texas in December to work with my club.
Up until what age where you playing soccer competitively/what position?
I have pretty much always been a defender, center back or right back. In high school, I had to play center mid because of injuries, but my mentality is more of a defender. Offense wins games, Defense wins championships. I like tackling and heading and getting in the head of the attacker. Technically, I was never a fancy player, but I had grit and determination. (The ball or the player, but both would not get by me.) When I came out of college we did not have a formal pro league in the U.S. I played semi-pro for a couple seasons and then played on womens and co-ed teams. I don’t play competitively anymore. It hurts too much. I run and bike in races now to curb my competitiveness.