WHS soccer player kicks it up a notch with scholarship

WASILLA — Tiffany Morrison was watching her son’s hockey game recently when she received a text message from her daughter, Reace, a talented Wasilla High soccer player.

“I burst into tears, I was so excited,” Morrison said. “She’s the first one on my side and my husband’s side of the family to win a scholarship to go to college. Her dad was coaching, so I ran over to the box where he was and stuck the phone up to the glass so he could read it.”

First hitting the soccer field when she was only 6 years old and steadily improving on her game ever since, the 18-year-old senior was elated to find out she’d be getting two-thirds of her tuition covered to play soccer for Southwestern Oregon Community College, a two-year program where she could begin working toward a career as a sports physical therapist.

Ironically, there was one point last year when Morrison had sprained her right ankle so badly she wondered if she’d be able to continue playing soccer. It was the physical therapy that got her through, she said.

“When I first came back from that sprain, it was a little iffy,” she said. “It was still so fresh and I was afraid of injuring it further.”

Although she still wears a typical ankle brace for support, she’s feeling stronger than ever and is thrilled to be heading to Oregon in the fall.

She said several other Wasilla athletes have attended the community college in the past and there are two boys on the varsity team who might be joining her this year.

“I’ll need a total of six years of college to become a physical therapist, but this is a start,” she said, adding she already got a jump on some of her sports medicine and fitness credits by taking a couple of courses at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School this past year.

She said she’ll be checking out the campus this summer after visiting relatives in California and taking a road trip to Oregon.

Morrison found out early on that the soccer field offered her an escape from the stresses of everyday life.

“It’s a place for me to forget everything,” she said.

But it wasn’t until her father began coaching her and encouraging her to improve her skills and strategies that she really began to make headway as a competitive player, she said.

“My dad told me I could be good at this and was there every step of the way,” she said. “But I was really amazed I actually got the scholarship, because I figured everybody on the team was better than me. Now I know I’m right up there with them.”

She said she’d watch professional soccer players for tips and inspiration. She began pushing herself to improve her footwork and her on- and off-ball movement while still maintaining her speed.

“I could dribble and pass and kick, but needed to work on the other stuff,” she said, adding she has the war wounds to show for all her efforts. “I’m so beat up right now. I have bruises everywhere.”

It was a videotape of her in action that helped convince the Southwestern coach she’d be a valuable asset to the team, she said.

The five-minute video showed her fancy footwork, shooting on goal and crashing the net — all prime skills for a college player.

And her 3.5 GPA didn’t hurt, either, she said.

“You have to be able to maintain a good GPA to stay on the team, so it helps them see you’re a good student,” she said.

Morrison’s advice to other Alaska athletes hoping for college scholarships is to film themselves early on and get advice from their coaches before their last year of high school.

Morrison said she’s hoping to earn other scholarships to four-year institutions in Washington state whose programs are connected to Southwestern Oregon.

Her mother is happy she’s blazing the trail for her younger brothers, who also are promising athletes.

“It’s good to see all those miles I put on the car driving her back and forth to practices all those years is finally paying off,” her mother said. “It’s been exciting because my sophomore is watching her and it’s inspired him to get his grades up, as well. But I’m just happy Reace already has some direction for her life at such a young age.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.