The Commits: five senior girls soccer players commit to play collegiately

Although their senior season was cut short, varsity soccer players Karoline Nelson, Izzy Zukaitis, Cate Nearmyer, Josephine McCray and Sydney Daris will kick-off their college careers with brand new teams in the fall.

After 19 years with East’s girls program, head soccer coach Jamie Kelly had never had so many girls in one class commit to play in college. Kelly played college soccer at Missouri Valley College himself, so he encourages his own players to play collegiately. After being so committed during his time with them, he was glad to see so many of his players give it a chance. 

Center forward Karoline Nelson has always loved Colorado, which made receiving an offer from the University of Denver, a D1 school, an easy decision. After going to an ID camp at DU in 2019 — an on-campus, three day soccer intensive for college coaches to scout players — Nelson received her offer from DU last fall and accepted the offer shortly after.

While club soccer has taught Nelson the technical and fundamental aspects of the game, she credits the East team for helping her to regain her love for the sport by making each practice something to look forward to. 

“My brother played on the boys team [at East] and he always talked about how much he loved it,” Nelson said. “But I didn’t really realize how amazing of an experience it was until I joined it myself.”

According to Kelly, the girls are fully prepared to play college soccer because they are so willing to work hard. He hopes they learn how to face adversity and grow on the college fields.

“Girls work hard and buy into what we, as coaches, ask them to do,” said Kelly. “When we ask them to change formations or play a different style, they’re so coachable.”

Ever since eighth grade, senior Izzy Zukaitis knew she wanted to play soccer in college. She began looking in the Southeast for a small college with a good soccer program that catered to her preferred major in exercise science — leading her to Lincoln Memorial University.

With several international students playing on the LMU team, Zukaitis feels nervous about the chemistry with her new teammates coming from a team filled with all her best friends. Moving out of the bubble known as Johnson County, she feels forming relationships with so many different types of people will be a challenge for her.

“It’s going to be hardest for me to leave that behind,” Zukaitis said. “It’s hard to imagine I’ll find that again, I’m sure it will happen but it will be kind of sad to let that go.”

Wanting her family to continue to cheer her on at games, Cate Nearmyer decided to stay close to home and play soccer at Baker University. Since her dad played college soccer and watched her career since she was a toddler, Nearmyer wanted to give her family the opportunity to continue supporting her from the bleachers. 

Though she was nervous about a good first impression, Nearmyer ran drills and scrimmaged with the Baker team. After she calmed down and warmed up to the team, she was able to get through a practice.

Nearmyer vied for Baker after her tour guide, who was a midfielder on the soccer team, showed her around the school and introduced her to the coach.

“I knew I’d be playing with her and she was so sweet,” Nearmyer said. “We ended up talking to the coach afterwards and both of them joked around and it just showed that they all had a good relationship and it made me realize that I wanted to go to Baker.”

For Josephine McCray, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas checked off all her boxes — a small, southern school located in a big city. McCray was able to meet the coach, tour the school and play at their ID camp before committing last spring. 

14 years with five different club teams and high school soccer has prepared McCray for the higher intensity level of playing that she will be sprung into in the fall. Although a change in temperature, proximity from home and a large team will all take some adjusting to, McCray is keeping a positive mindset.

“It’s already scary enough going into college, but having a team of girls that I’m close with and get to see everyday is going to make the transition a lot easier,” McCray said.

Thanks to Kelly’s connections, he was able to put Sydney Daris in contact with the head coach at the University of Central Missouri. From there, Darris drove out for an ID camp and shortly after was offered a spot on the team.

Being one of three goalies on the UCM team, Daris anticipates some competition for the starting spot — but that only motivates her to train harder. But similar to her time on the East team, the competition for a starting spot won’t keep her from supporting her teammates, according to Daris. 

While each player is taking a different path in their college soccer careers, they can still rely on Coach Kelly to be an open ear.

“Enjoy the experience,” Kelly said. “It’s hard work but it’s good work. I’ve never been in better shape in my entire life than when I played college soccer.”