Stoppage Time: Karlee Stueckle
11/4/2019
When I close my eyes and think about the metaphorical path for my life (especially as it relates to me as an athlete), I always envisioned it as a straight one. A quiet road with little distraction, point A to point B, nothing too out of the ordinary, no backtracking or wrong turns. As it turns out, it’s been far from that.
My collegiate athletics story is a bit of an enigma, and the best part about it is that I keep taking turns off the straight and narrow that surprise even myself. The learning and growth I’ve experienced in the last few years have made the journey to where I am now so worth it.
Growing up I played all of the sports, from soccer to basketball to cross country and track, but soccer was where I felt most at home. I played for a very small club in Puyallup, Washington because it was fun and affordable when all three of my siblings played multiple sports as well. For most of that time, I played a year up on a team with my best friends and I loved every minute of it.
Throughout my club career I was told several times to move to bigger, better-known, and more competitive clubs if I wanted the chance to play at a higher level and that I needed to challenge myself. I continued to do exactly the opposite, up until the end of my junior year of high school. I finally decided to get serious and made the switch to play for the Issaquah Gunners. This decision also meant I was now driving an hour and a half to practice three nights a week. It was a lot, but I really felt like I was worth the investment for my future with the sport.
It was with this team I had played in my first Surf Cup, which is arguably the most prestigious tournament on the west coast, and won it. I had the best weekend of my life, and finally found my niche on the field. A lot of schools had already filled all their spots for the 2018 incoming fall class, so by this time I was pressured to make a decision on a very condensed timeline and with limited options.
This all lead to me visiting and committing to play at Boise State. Several weeks went by, and my decision was constantly on my mind. Something did not feel right. I knew it my heart that I wanted to be closer to home. Around the same time, I was having a state record-breaking year hurdling for my high school and had received multiple offers to run collegiately. I decided that continuing to run at the next level here at UW fit my plan to remain close to home perfectly. My heart was still with soccer, but that opportunity had not materialized for my freshman year at UW so I pressured myself into thinking I would learn to love track as much instead.
I spent my freshman year at UW running the 400 hurdles on the purple track. More than anything else, it was a learning and growing year. I learned so much about hard work and persistence in the face of adversity and how to navigate life on my own. I learned that you can’t force yourself to love something just because you’re good at it. Through it all, there was a part of me missing. It was soccer, the sport I craved growing up. So, thanks to coaches who saw something in me and gave me a chance and teammates who advocated for me as a person and a player, I am where I was meant to be all along... on the pitch. It seemed like a big decision to take that leap of faith and make the switch, but it reality it was a no-brainer.
Now, as I run around the field in the Texas heat during a 3-1 win over TCU, I look up into the stands and see my family who traveled from Seattle and San Diego to support me and witness my first collegiate goal. Then I look around at my teammates surrounding me who have undeniably become some of my best friends and I can’t help but feel happier and more fulfilled than I’ve felt in a long time. I’m finally where I was supposed to be the entire time; until my next turn, my next opportunity for growth. I feel ready for whatever life throws at me.
