Danica Post is a fifth-year undergraduate student doing a double major in criminology and psychology, along with a minor in sociology. She has been playing soccer at UTM since her first year and has been named one of the captains this year.
Post has been playing both indoor and outdoor soccer since she was three-years-old. Her first coaches were her parents, and it was great to have their support in her early stages of learning. This encouraged Post to continue playing soccer throughout her life.
When Post reached the age of 12, she joined her first competitive team. Since then, she has been a part of many teams. When Post first came to university, she was a part of the Tri-Campus team before it became varsity. Spending so much time with her team enforced a family-like bond between the team.
Upon becoming the team captain, Post says she felt a sense of pride and also responsibility. It meant a lot to her as it showed that the coaches believed she had the “skills and dedication to help the team succeed and to help the team grow.” Post admits that she did not always have these skills. During her time at UTM, she felt herself grow as a player and believes that her coaches saw this growth as well. Which is why they felt she was ready to take the step of becoming the team captain.
Post lives a busy life. She works, has classes, attends team practices, trains in the gym, plays soccer games, studies, and has other after-school commitments. However, despite all of this, Post doesn’t feel overwhelmed or find it hard to balance everything. She admits to being the type of person who “needs a lot to stay productive” and wouldn’t be as productive without a busy schedule.
To Post, soccer is “an opportunity to destress, to be with friends, to work hard, to work towards a goal, and to let go of everything else.” For Post, the game holds a thrill and demands an attention that drives everything else out of her mind as she is playing. When she is playing, any thought, hurt, or tension vanishes from her mind. Her focus is 100 per cent in the game.
Post cherishes moments when she and her team execute set plays that they spent time learning in practice. She loves seeing her team grow, improve, and work hard during practices and games. There have been moments of disappointment, but Post and her team as a collective have treated these moments as lessons. Every disappointing game leads to the team gathering and figuring out what went wrong in order to prevent it from happening in future games.
Post believes that her most exhilarating moment would be qualifying for provincials this indoor season. It would be a great way for Post to close out her soccer career as she does not feel she will continue to play during her master’s program next year. Although, her heart and support will always be with the UTM Eagles.
