Grace Brown
Grace Brown has been playing soccer since before she could even write her name. Ever since the very beginning of her career she has pictured herself playing in college. Brown has decided to live out her childhood dream in a bright red Nebraska uniform.
“I visited Iowa, Creighton, and Drake. I was seriously considering going to Drake, but I knew I wanted to push myself the hardest possible. Nebraska is in the Big Ten conference–a really tough conference–and I just wanted to see if I could do it,” Brown said of her college choice. Brown is known by her teammates to be a vocal leader and strong competitor on the field, and she attributes her strong love of soccer to the competition and team aspect the sport offers.
“You can’t accomplish anything without the team in soccer. The defenders play a huge role as well as the forwards; in order to be successful you can’t just have one [component].”
Brown practices between six and fourteen hours each week. She has two first-place Regional finishes and one second place trophy at Nationals with her ODP (Olympic Development Program) team under her belt.
Brown also travelled to the National Premier League tournament in Colorado with a California team this past summer and brought home a first place finish.
Although Brown’s experience has prepared her to excel on the field, she still has worries heading into the next level of competition. Brown stands at a mere 5’4”, and understands the challenges that come with a short stature.
“I’m mostly worried about my size, because I won’t be Nebraska’s tallest person, so I’ll definitely have to work a lot harder.”
Brown plans to major in Elementary Education next fall and not only seeks a Division I experience on the field, but in the classroom as well.
“[Academics] are also very important to me. I have never let soccer get in the way of me getting good grades,” Brown said. “I’ve known this is what I wanted to do with the next part of my life since I was ten years old. [I have spent] a huge part of my life [preparing for] this new chapter, so it’s super exciting that it’s almost here.”