Scholarship Winner
We are pleased to annouce our very first
Soccer Sisters College Scholarship
"Leadership Award"
To..........
Miss Anna Zellner
of
Decatur, Alabama
2008
Anna will attend and play soccer for Birmingham Southern in the Fall of 2008. She was
nominated by her club Coach, Ken Gamble. His letter of nomination is posted below. Also,
be sure to read Anna's article on what soccer has meant to her.
Anna played with the Alabama State ODP team in 2005. Since then she has been a key member
of the River City Raptors club team. They finished first in the DI state league in
2006 and 2007. Anna was also a four-year starter for the varsity team
at Austin High School in Decatur where she was named to the All-Morgan County Tournament
First Team as a sophomore and as a senior.
In 2007 she served as a team captain and was named Morgan County Tournament MVP
and Austin High School Varsity MVP, and received Decatur Daily All-Area honors.
~The Following is the nomination letter for Anna written by her club coach, Ken Gamble~
This letter is to introduce you to Anna Zellner as seen by someone who has known and coached her the past three years as her club soccer coach. When you coach a player for several years you get to know not only the player and her skills as seen by the public, but also the young woman and her character. Over those three years I’ve had an excellent opportunity to watch Anna grow up and to see how she reacts in all sorts of situations. It’s said that losing reveals character and our first year we won very few games. During that stressful season Anna’s strength of character was the glue that held the team together. I can recommend Anna not only as a top soccer player, but also as a top student of strong charismatic character who will continue her soccer career at Birmingham-Southern next year.
Anna played center back on our U18 Division I club team and is the linchpin of not only the defense, but is also considered the team’s leader and captain. That leadership at practice and in games was especially important as our team had a number of much younger players on it. The team was a mixture of U16s, U17s and U18s and Anna did an excellent job of nurturing the younger players. In conditioning drills she could “dog” it based upon her reputation. But even in the heat of the summer, Anna led by example. The younger players see the example she sets and look up to her.
The team led the U17 Division I Alabama state league last season giving up just five goals in eight games. Anna started every game and very seldom came out of the game. In our first tournament this season the team won the championship and did not give up a single goal. As leader of the defense, Anna deserves much of the credit for that.
Umbro had a soccer advertisement that said, “Understanding that most of the game has nothing to do with kicking a ball, is one step closer to understanding the game.” Anna has reached that point in her soccer career where she realizes the mental part of soccer is so important because of the level of competition we face. Anna’s an A+ student and excels in the mental aspect of the game.
Anna as a Student
Lastly, I would like to speak about Anna as a young woman rather than an athlete. As I said I’ve had an opportunity see how she reacted in all sorts of situations and under the most stressful of circumstances.
In both her first and second year playing for me, Anna cracked a vertebrate in her back and spent much of the season going through rehabilitation. The broken backs ended her promising ODP career.
Most players would have quit with the first broken back. And even the most dedicated would have quit playing with the second broken back. But Anna ’s not like that. She not only came back but fulfilled her dream of signing a college scholarship.
During those first two years, though her doctor would not allow her to practice after the injuries, Anna still attended all our team ’s workouts and worked closely with me as the team’s assistant coach. She used her extensive playing experience and knowledge to teach and encourage the younger players.
Anna as a Coach
In addition to her success as a player, Anna also “gives back to the game” by coaching a U10 Girls Raptors club team. She gets no money for her work with the team, but does it out of a desire to expose younger players to the game she loves so much. For many of the players it’s the first time they’ve played really competitive soccer. And Anna is the perfect coach to foster those young girls into the sport.
There is no doubt in my mind that she will find success in whatever she chooses to do in life. She’s extremely smart, motivated and well liked by her friends and teammates. At no point in the three years that I have known her, have I ever seen her denigrate any of her teammates, opponents or players. This team was a brand new club team just three years ago and had some very rough times in the beginning. Anna’s attitude was always positive even in the most trying circumstances.
She’s a credit to her parents and is just the sort of friend and role model you would like your own daughter to have and your son to date. Both on and off the field Anna is one of those people who make those around her better.
It was my heart-felt pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Anna. I apologize for its length as I know your time is very valuable. But I wanted to be sure that you understood that in addition to being a great club, ODP and high school soccer player and a top student, Anna is also a great student of the game and will excel in college soccer AND will be the sort of adult soccer coach that Alabama needs in order to progress.
Sincerely,
Kenneth B. Gamble
Anna and her sister Jennifer
True "Soccer Sisters"
What Soccer Has Meant To Me
Anna Zellner
The first time I set foot on a soccer field was not to play. I was with my mom to drop my younger sister off at practice. I was in Kindergarten, and when my parents asked if I wanted to join the DYSA team, I laughed. Soccer was for “boys” I explained. Little did I know soccer would change my life. By the end of the season I was regularly attending practices and games. I watched as my sister laughed and played. The next year I signed up for my first year of soccer and twelve years later I am still playing.
When I was young; soccer was all about hanging out with my friends, half time snacks and an intense game of sharks and minnows. I lived for Saturdays when I would put on my team shirt, spray my hair a crazy color, and head to Pt. Mallard fields to play. I loved everything about the atmosphere: the team cheers we shrieked before and after every game, the tunnels the parents made for us to run through, and the happy faces of our fans.
As I got older soccer became more serious. I made my middle school team in seventh grade and worked extremely hard to improve my skills. I was chosen team captain my eighth grade year and helped recruit girls to play for Decatur’s first U-15 girl’s club team. I found myself looking for excuses to be at the fields. I arranged extra practices, ran everyday, began refereeing U-6 games, and spent my off season time at numerous soccer camps. Soccer was quickly becoming something not only for fun, but an obsession and addiction. I would literally eat, sleep, and breathe soccer. I was not very good, but that did not stop me. I could not get enough of the game.
As my freshman year rolled around I was ready to prove myself. After miles of running around the hilly terrain of Lake Chula Vista and countless summer practices, I made Varsity as one of two freshmen. The season flew and we finished with a record of 17-4. I found myself being chosen for the 2005 89’ State Olympic Development Program Team, during which time I attended the Texas Shootout in Houston and Region III Camp. There I met many new people and decided that I wanted to play soccer in college. My parents fully supported my decisions and did everything they could to help me achieve my goal.
During my sophomore year in high school, I experienced my first serious injury. I developed a fracture in my lower left lumbar of my spine. I played with the injury for a year until the pain progressed to the point I could not play any longer. I was devastated to think I could not play. I quickly had to learn to adjust physically and emotionally to wearing a brace underneath my clothes. This was difficult, and for four months I struggled to rehabilitate from the injury. At that time, I set a goal to return to play with my club team by the end of the season. My routine changed from conditioning and playing soccer everyday to going to the gym daily, as well as physical therapy twice a week. I attended all team practices and games, even though I was unable to participate.
After four months, I healed and began to catch up to my team who had progressed without me. Our club team made it to the final four of the state cup, and I accomplished my rehabilitation goal of returning before the end of the season. I was proud to have achieved my goal, although I was only able to play for ten minutes of our final game.
Throughout our club off-season and high school season, I continued to work to get back into game shape and regain my skills. When my club season rolled around, I was excited to pick up where I had left off the year before. During our first tournament of the season, I began to experience sharp pains in the right side of my back. The next day my doctor informed me that my previous fracture had healed, but I had developed a fracture on the right side of the same lumbar in my spine. A devastating feeling reentered my life as I realized I had to start from square one. After a few days of tears, I refused to let this setback dampen my spirits. I committed myself to return to the gym everyday, as well as physical therapy two times a week. Once again I watched my team from the sidelines at practices and games.
My coach saw my love for the game. He saw the determination and drive I had to be part of the game any way I could. He asked me to help him and he began to teach me how to coach my teammates. Through his eyes I learned to see the game versus just play it. I fell in love with coaching and expanding my knowledge of the game. I feel this was an extremely valuable lesson that I might not have had the advantage of if the injury had not occurred. My mom always reminds me that something good comes out of everything bad and this is proof of it.
I was able to go on and play as a starter and captain of my High School varsity team my junior year. Given this leadership position proved to me that other’s also believed in me and my determination to encourage others. I was also selected team MVP, County Tournament MVP and an All-Area player. These accomplishments helped me to realize that no struggle is impossible to overcome.
During the 2007 club season not only did I play but I had the opportunity to be an assistant coach the U-10 team in our club. I had always tried to be a role model for the younger girls in the club, and helping this team was a way for me to give back to the club that had done so much for me. These little girls had opportunities that I would have died for at that age, and coaching them was such a positive learning experience. I looked forward to going to practice two times a week and being showered with hugs and happiness the girls radiated. They could always turn my bad day around, and were always ready to learn. Not only that, these ten year old girls taught me some of life’s most valuable lessons. Simply being around them helped me grow into a better person. The head coach was gracious enough to allow me to practice my coaching abilities on this team, and my experience solidified the fact that coaching was the career for me.
Soccer has taught me that adversity can be overcome. I no longer consider my soccer injuries a setback. Soccer has given me aspirations to help other players who have suffered through injury or adversity by pursuing an education and career in coaching and athletic nutrition at Birmingham Southern College. In addition I will have the opportunity to play soccer for BSC as well. Soccer has become, not just a sport, but my passion and career choice. It has opened up a world of opportunities for me to pursue in the future. I am excited to find out what my future holds for me in this sport, and I hope I can instill my love of soccer in many other players.
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