Star Spotlight: Kamryn Lanier
Senior Kamryn Lanier is heading off to Howard University to play soccer, despite not having played school soccer since freshman year.
Senior Kamryn Lanier poses for a photo in the quad. Lanier plays club soccer for Sporting Blue Valley, but did not play school soccer. photo by Anne Claire Tangen
May 19, 2017
story by Katie Gregory
“What grade did you start playing club soccer?”
“I started off playing Legends in 5th grade, and I played for them from 5th to 8th grade. Then I started playing for Sporting Blue Valley in high school. Sophomore year of high school I played Sporting Blue Valley ECNL, which is their highest team.”
“What is your history with lacrosse as opposed to soccer?”
“I started playing lacrosse in middle school, but I stopped when I came to St. Teresa’s because I couldn’t do both soccer and lacrosse. Freshman year I did play JV soccer, but that was the only year that I played school soccer. Then, both junior and senior year I played lacrosse at STA.”
“What was the recruiting process like regarding playing for club soccer rather than school?”
“Sophomore year, I talked to a lot of soccer coaches, and I was all about the sport. However, I wasn’t talking to any schools further away from Kansas City, and I knew I wanted to go somewhere far away. That’s why, during my junior year, I stopped playing soccer and started playing lacrosse. That way I could talk to lacrosse coaches at schools further away. During senior year, as I was playing lacrosse, I went to a lacrosse camp for Berkeley, and the lacrosse coach there told me that if I got in, I could play. Fast forward to the end of the year, though, and I was waitlisted, so I knew I had to pick somewhere else.”
“Howard was always one of my top choices, and I had spoken to the Howard coach sophomore year and so we revisited and started speaking again. He told me that they still had a spot left on the team, and I thought ‘This works out perfectly!’ I knew I just had to be committed to regaining my foot skills after taking a year off. The reason I’m not playing lacrosse at Howard is because it’s hard to grow their program, as it is at a lot of HBCUs (Historically Black College/University). I’m really grateful to be able to play soccer because Howard puts a lot of effort into it.”
“What do you expect the transition back into soccer to be like after your year off?”
“Honestly, I’m not excited to start training for soccer again because I know it’s going to be really difficult. In my opinion, being in shape for soccer is different than being in shape for lacrosse. That will be hard, but it won’t be anything I haven’t done because I made the transition from soccer to lacrosse. So I think it will be difficult, but I’m ready for it.”
“What do you think the adjustment from high school to college will be like when we consider both the academic and athletic aspects?”
“I’m excited to be able to keep playing a sport in college. That was a factor into why I chose Howard over schools like JMU and Villanova, because I probably wouldn’t be playing sports there. I don’t think the athletic transition will be hard because I’ve grown up playing sports. I think it may be difficult to balance my schedule, but I also have another friend going to Howard, Elexa Pierson, and so it will be nice to have her there. Howard has a lot of resources for athletes, so that will be nice, too.”
“How do you think team dynamics differ between lacrosse and soccer?”
“I think overall the dynamics are the same. Small differences are that in lacrosse, I play midfield, so I’m right down there when we’re scoring. That’s one difference I can notice, since I’m always on defense in soccer. In soccer, I’m never down there for the high fives and the cheers when you score. However, I think both sports are overall very similar in the way that everyone is a team and is connected.”
