To say that soccer has been a big part of senior Maddy Wood’s life would be an understatement. Wood has played the game since she was in preschool, playing for club teams to the varsity girls’ soccer team at FHN, to even playing across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom at the British soccer club West Ham. Her next challenge, once her senior season has concluded, will be on the college level at the Division III school Millikin University in Illinois. Going to the next level has always been a goal for Wood.

“I have always hoped to play, ever since I was younger, for as long as possible,” Wood said. “If I could [play post-college] that’d be really cool, but if not, I want to at least coach my kid or a team when I’m older.”

Wood had originally been looking at a number of colleges, one being Truman State University. In a soccer camp at Truman, however, Wood sprained her ankle on the first night at the camp, and she took it as a sign that this wasn’t the right school for her. This led to Wood checking out Millikin, and she was immediately impressed by the overall environment and the atmosphere of the university.

“Immediately when I got there, the campus was gorgeous, the people were friendly, the coaches were super excited to have me there and they were really easy to talk to and all the other girls took me in right away and talked to me and didn’t let me feel left out, so I knew this was the place for me,” Wood said.

With college on the way in just a few months, Wood is aware of the fact that she’ll have to train even harder to keep up with the pace of her fellow college athletes. While this may be a challenge, it is also something she is looking forward to taking part in going into the next stage of her career.

“I’m very excited,” Wood said. “It’s going to be a different, higher level, so I have to mentally focus and prepare myself. Summer workouts are coming up soon, so I have to get in better shape than I am already because the higher level is more physical, more mental things to it as well.”

The goal of most athletes is to accomplish glory not just individually, but as a team as a whole. This is the case with Wood, who has set a key objective for her and her team to attain by the end of her college playing career.

“I want to achieve a title,” Wood said. “My team is on the rise, so I want to be a part of that and actually help them win a title in one of my years at Millikin.”