Academy soccer player, Boston University commit Shayla Brown was always bound for DI

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For Academy High (AH) senior Shayla Brown, committing to play Division 1 soccer this fall for Boston University’s women’s team was a no-brainer. The game has always been a part of her life—literally.

“When she was about nine, we backpacked through Europe,” says Shayla’s father and AH English teacher Gordon Brown. “She always had a ball [with her.] After viewing the Mona Lisa, on the lawn in front of Le Louvre, she played soccer. On the beach and the streets of Barcelona, she played soccer. On a simple outing to dinner, she’d bring a ball because you never [knew] what opportunity might come up.”

Through the years, Shayla has taken every opportunity she can to dribble the ball. When she was a toddler, the family lived in Panama. Gordon recalls how Shayla would follow her big brother, Nathan, all over the place, begging him to play.

The family moved back to the United States when Shayla was 5 years old. Shayla joined a local recreational soccer league in Fairfax, Virginia, and coaches were impressed right away with her drive for the game. While other young players ran in knots across the pitch, Shayla displayed skills and focus well beyond her years.

Unlike other kids who want to kick the game-winning goal, though, Shayla is committed to the team aspect of the sport.

“Playing midfield is definitely my favorite position,” she says. “I just always want to set my teammates up for success and give us as many opportunities to get the ball in the back of the net.”

Her early success in the game was balanced by concerns about her size; when she was younger, doctors were worried that her height and weight didn’t measure up to norms and that her body wasn’t absorbing the necessary nutrients. Some kids might have hesitated to play with others who were much bigger than them. Not Shayla.

“She was significantly smaller than most other players, but that did not stop her from often outrunning and outplaying opponents,” Gordon says.

Shayla also had to face the age-old challenge of gender.

Years after joining that local rec team in Virginia, Shayla decided to play more competitive soccer. She got selected for the top team in her age group in the Club Champions League, the national organization that trains athletes for success in the game from the preschool level all the way up to the Olympics. It also specializes in preparing students who want to play soccer in college.

Although she was immensely happy with the team and the coach, circumstances led to the disbanding of the team. An opportunity opened up for Shayla to play with another team in another club, except all her teammates were boys. Given her obvious skill and talent, it should have been seamless for Shayla’s new teammates to accept her but it wasn’t.

“The same assumptions are made, the same things are done, and you have to prove yourself again and again,” Shayla says.

She doesn’t begrudge any of those moments, though. In fact, she credits her challenges with bringing her to where she is today.

“A huge part of performing well comes down to the mental game,” she says. “Putting myself in situations that have forced me to be mentally strong has been instrumental to who I am as an athlete.”

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