Springfield MO Soccer

Hilary Dorland has verbally committed to attending, and playing soccer, at Southwest Baptist University. She is considering a career as an Elementary School teacher, in particular 1st graders, much like her mother. She is getting plenty of practice this season as she and Roshani, a Kickapoo & JB Marine teammate, are responsible for the Mini-Kickers program at Lake Country Soccer. The photo above was taken at a practice last week.

Hilary began playing soccer as a six year old and joined a team at Lake Country Soccer as a 3rd grader when the family moved back to Springfield. She is an original member of the JB Marine Soccer Club high school squad when it began in 2004, playing for Coach Lindsey Paulsell. She is a defender for the District 12 champion Kickapoo Chief’s where she was a co-captain with Afton Weimer and Rachel Lavoy last seaon.

Hilary’s highest honor came within the team when she was recognized with the “Coaches Award” for the 2005 season. Other honors included the All Academic First Team, Ozarks Conference Honorable Mention and District 12 2nd Team.

The ’stand up and take notice’ moment for me came during the Sectional game last spring against Rolla, a 2-1 loss in the fourth overtime. Hilary played left back for the Chiefs with Whitney Hall, an All-Ozarks selection and Southwest Region co-Defensive MVP, anchoring the defense from her centerback position. Early in the 2nd half, Whitney went down with an ankle injury that ended her season. Hilary stepped into the breach while freshman Abby Ussery came in to play left back. The defense held and took Rolla to within five minutes of PK’s. It was a testament to Hilary and to her teammates the way they stepped up, making the loss all that much harder to take.

Hilary’s career is a great example that it’s more important to set your goals and pursue them in a way that meets your needs rather then following what might be considered the more standard path. Rather then attending summer camps she instead chose to work individually with Josh Hertel, a fellow with a very strong St. Louis soccer pedigree who now lives in Springfield and works with Springfield Soccer Club. Her path to SBU began by attending the exhibition match last August at Drury where she re-introduced herself to the Assistant Coach, Christian Serino , whom she had met briefly while working a retail job at the Mall. That introduction put her into the formal recruiting cycle that included visits by SBU staff to a JB Marine practice and soon afterwards Hilary began attending SBU games in Bolivar. She participated in a Recruiting weekend event in early October with several other girls, discovered how much she enjoyed the team and the school, and when the offer came a few days later it was an easy decision for her to accept.

From Coach Davidson:

Hilary has been a great role model for our program. She has made herself a great player by understanding the importance of work ethic. She has also assisted me in many ways with her leadership and organizational skills. I’m very proud to have the opportunity to coach such a wonderful kid.

From Josh Hertel, who holds a National “B” License and works with Springfield SC:

I had the opportunity to coach Hilary from the time she was in the fourth grade on the Jaguar soccer team through the time she went to high school. My fondest memories of Hillary have always been her aggressive play and her ability to read the game of soccer. Hilary’s intensity on the soccer field is outstanding. She was always my main central defender because I knew that she would do everything possible in her abilities to keep the opponents out of our goal. If there were ever a 50-50 ball to be won, Hilary would make this battle a 90-10 tackle where she won the ball. She is one of the strongest players I have seen going into a tackle.

In training sessions she was a very quick learner and was someone I could look to use in my demonstrations. She would ask questions about the drills to be sure she was making the correct play. She always put forth her best effort in even the simplest drill. Her goal was to be the best player that she could be and her resolve to get to this point meant she would practice and train daily. Her efforts show her focus on working for success but this success has not only been on the soccer field, but in school and as a young woman as well. I could not ever have asked for a more respectful and polite player.

Hilary has never wavered on her pursuit of becoming a great soccer player. She knows and will put fort the effort to be successful in soccer and to make her team better.

Hilary’s curiousity and enthusiasm came through in our conversations last week as we discussed her plans. I have no doubt she will be successful regardless of the direction she chooses. Congratulations Hilary and good luck!