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Clearfield's Mohney excited to head to St. Francis
Thursday, February 11, 2010
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
HYDE - She started playing in her backyard when she was three or four years old. She was going to camps before she was 10. And by the time high school rolled around, Clearfield senior Brooke Mohney was traveling all over the East Coast, doing showcases.
Mohney has eaten, slept and breathed soccer for as long as she can remember, and all that has paid off in the form of a chance to play Division I Women's Soccer.
When she signed her letter of intent last week to play soccer at Saint Francis University, Mohney became what is believed to be the first Clearfield County girl to play D-I soccer.
"It's really exciting," Mohney said. "I never thought I would get recognition from any D-1 school. But, I worked so hard since I was three or four years old, and it has paid off. It's a great opportunity, and I'm ready to take that step."
The journey began for Mohney as a toddler, growing up in a household that was very involved in the sport of soccer.
"I started playing before pee-wee, and then I was on my dad's (rec) teams growing up," Mohney said. "My dad, all the kids, my cousins ... everyone was involved in soccer. It was soccer, soccer all the time."
Mohney went to her first camp - the Messiah Soccer Camp - at age nine. From there, she was asked to play on a team in Harrisburg, where she and her family would travel every weekend.
"I started going to camps and playing on bigger teams," she said. "We were traveling a lot. I played for Supernova (in Harrisburg). The coach kept asking me to come back every single weekend. I was getting as good as the girls in Harrisburg."
After her experience with Supernova, Mohney caught on with a traveling team a little closer to home - The Central Penn United Gladiators.
"When I was 11 or 12, I started playing in State College with girls from there and Altoona and Hollidaysburg," Mohney said.
Once she got to high school, Mohney looked into other sports. She competed in track and field for a year, but she decided soccer was something she wanted to focus on.
"I stuck with soccer," she said. "I love soccer, and I just wanted to be the best I could at it."
Mohney began contacting colleges by e-mail during her sophomore year, asking them to come and watch her at showcases throughout Pennsylvania and all over the East Coast. She even traveled as far as Colorado to take part in a showcase.
"I contacted hundreds of coaches to come to the showcases," Mohney said. "The coaches I e-mailed would come to specifically watch me. There were a lot of opportunities that came from them."
After traveling all over the country, it was ironically one of the closest showcases to home that would ultimately lead to Mohney's collegiate career choice.
Saint Francis head coach Brenda Van Stralen first saw Mohney at the Bloomsburg Futures two years ago.
"It is nice for us because it's local and not too many Division I schools are there," Van Stralen said.
Van Stralen was immediately impressed with Mohney's skills.
"She has good foot skills. She's quick with the ball, especially passing-wise. And she has a good knowledge of the game," Van Stralen said.
Mohney wasn't only recruited by Saint Francis as far as Division I teams go. Duquesne was also very interested in her as were Division II Lock Haven and Division III schools Messiah College and Stevenson University.
Ultimately Mohney narrowed her prospects to two - Saint Francis and Lock Haven.
"Since the summer, it has been between those two," Mohney said. "It was a tough decision. I visited both schools, did official visits at both schools. I had to decide what I wanted to do. How much soccer did I want to play?"
Mohney finally decided that the challenge of Division I soccer was one she wanted to take.
"You must have a dedication to soccer," Van Stralen said. "You have to live soccer. If you don't have that love, there's a problem. You must devote four hours a day, and in the preseason even more. It's a big challenge. You cannot get sick of it."
Van Stralen said that all of her 12 recruits exhibit the characteristics necessary to be successful at the D-I level.
"Every one of our recruits has it," she said. "Brooke has that mentality. It was made clear during visits what kind of commitment was expected of them."
But for a girl who has already spent much of her free time in the sport she loves, it will likely be more difficult for her to find time for the other parts of her daily routine.
"I just need to be able to manage my time," Mohney said. "Soccer will be time-consuming. I'll be putting more hours into it throughout the week all year round, but I'm ready for the challenge. I'm excited."
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