Women’s soccer out-of-state players learning to adjust

By Nick Cardoso | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Freshman forward and midfielder Taylor Adkins learned that going to college and joining a team 700 miles away from home can be a daunting task.

The Flagler College women’s soccer team has 27 players on its roster but only five are out-of-state recruits.

These five are Alexandra Meadows from McLean, Va., Taylor Adkins from Evansville, Ind., Hannah Harvell from Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Haley Powers from Coppell, Texas and Rafaela Faria from São José, Brazil.

“Coming from Indiana was hard at first,” Adkins said. “I didn’t know a single person on the team, and they didn’t know me.”

Adkins said everyone on the team was extremely accepting.

“In such a small amount of time, I felt like I was really a part of the team,” she said. “Our soccer team is close. We have to be.”

According to Assistant Coach Breanne Mooi, the majority of the players on the women’s soccer team are from Florida because Flagler does not offer many scholarships to women soccer players.

“We only have four and a half or five and a half scholarships to offer and that’s not much money to split among 27 girls,” Mooi said. “We have a lot of players from Florida because they qualify for the FRAG and Bright Futures [scholarships.]”

Mooi said Flagler College athletics are competing against a lot of other schools in recruiting and those colleges can offer more than Flagler can.

“Really the only thing we can offer them that the other schools can’t is the beach,” she said.

Mooi said she and Head Coach Teddy Meyer scout players in tournaments all over the country and internationally.

“Florida has good soccer programs, but we do also go out of state to recruit,” Mooi said.

She and Meyer make trips to tournaments in other states such as North Carolina and even attend international tournaments.

Despite having a few players from outside of Florida, the team has meshed well together, Adkins said.

“We have a great connection with each other and it’s really going to start showing on the field within the next four years,” she said.