Gruelling matches, long hours of practicing, and maintaining the balance of both school and soccer can drive people away, but to Allison Dulany, this only makes the sport even more electric.
Beginning her journey at only 3 years old, Dulany has been a star soccer player for 15 years and counting. She began playing in her park district before moving to a more competitive team. Even though Dulany may have been too young to realize her original motivation for joining soccer, to her, it is a sport that has always been there for her in times of need.
“It was just always there”, says Dulany.
Having good role models is important to playing a sport of any kind. To Dulany, her role models can be found in her parents, who showed up to every game, near and far, encouraging her throughout her entire soccer journey.
Dulany also expresses her appreciation for her other various supporters for always being there for her.
“I really want to thank my family, coaches, and teammates.”
Dulany has proved her dedication and loyalty to soccer through the years by being awarded the Scholar Athlete award, and being on varsity for all four years of high school on top of being made a captain, working alongside Aliyah Evans for her senior year.
Dulany expresses her pride in the selection of activities for students to do, and finds joy in doing student athletic training since she can be more informed of any injuries she gets from soccer. After high school, Dulany will be attending Mizzou for pre-physical therapy, while also joining a club team to continue soccer beyond high school. Though this may be the end of high school for Dulany, this is certainly not the end for her everlasting bonds she has created here, as she hopes to keep in contact with the many amazing people she has met.
Dulany has been through many years of soccer, and one of the things that has resonated with her the most is to “just keep working hard, because eventually, it will pay off.”
