Blog Post # 47: Team Culture

Hello! My name is Julia Hyland, also known as J-High. I'm a rising junior on the team. I've been asked to share a little bit about our team culture and my overall experience as a member. I'm excited to share, and I hope you enjoy reading my little spiel. 

I came to the conclusion that college soccer is not exactly what it might appear to be on the outside. There are many things that we think we may understand, only to later realize they are not what we expected. For example: you see a mystery Tupperware container in the fridge, and you think that it's leftover coconut chunks but turns out it's chunks of white cheddar cheese. This is not necessarily a bad thing unless you for some reason hate white cheddar cheese. It's just different than you expected and a little shocking at first. Only the person who tastes it really knows what it is since you can't tell the nature of the thing just by looking at it.

I have played soccer for most of my life and loved it almost right away. I loved to compete, to win, to work so hard that I had nothing left, to develop and hone my skills, I loved it all. Coming into college I expected none of this to change. Now, having played two seasons, I have realized that college soccer itself is fun and it is a gift, but it also entails a lot of suffering and sacrifice. If I am playing soccer only to win games and athletic awards I will never be fulfilled. I have learned from my teammates and coaches that I should not love soccer for its own sake but for that which it can teach me and point me toward.

The Ave Maria Women's Soccer team exists to guide each woman in discovering her identity as a daughter of God through collegiate soccer, with the ultimate goal of leading her toward heaven. In this way, soccer is not the destination but the vessel—an arena where character is forged, faith is deepened, and virtue is trained through daily practice and competition. Winning games is not the final aim, but the natural fruit that grows from a foundation carefully built by our coaches and fellow teammates past and present, where excellence on the field flows from a deeper ordering of the heart. 

Last season was a rough one. I don't think I can fully put into words how challenging the season was for everyone. Yet, amid the injuries, personal struggles, mounting academic demands, and emotional and mental battles, someone was always laughing or telling jokes before practice. The joy was contagious, and it made a difference—not just because of one person, but because so many people consistently brought that same energy.

This joyful and loving attitude we brought to practices and games day after day doesn't quite make sense, all things considered. In fact, choosing joy in the midst of suffering is itself a sacrifice, offered for the good of the team and its unity. Yet, looking back on that season and reflecting on what it means to be a daughter of the Lord; it does make sense. To be a daughter of the Lord means living as one who knows she is beloved—recognizing that He delights in us and loves each of us personally and individually. It also means embracing the universal call to love one another, no matter how hard it may be, as Christ loves us.

God has given each of us the gifts and talents to play soccer for His glory, and He delights in seeing us play. When the season became especially difficult, I found strength in imagining my Heavenly Father smiling as He watched me play, saying, "That's my little girl." This may seem like a small thing, but once you truly accept the reality of God's fatherly love and understand that He delights in you personally, it changes everything—how you approach soccer, how you relate to your teammates and coaches, and ultimately how you see the game itself.

Obviously, any team can have a mission statement like this and not truly live it out. For all you know, Coach Rosser could have paid me to write a series of nice things to promote himself, the team, and maybe the school. I can assure you he did not (though, Coach, if you're reading this, I could use the cash). I am writing this of my own free will, and I stand by every word. This team truly lives out its mission statement and the call to love. 

I hope to carry everything I have learned about love and daughterhood from collegiate soccer at Ave Maria University into every aspect of my life. I love this team deeply, and every player and coach will always hold a special place in my heart. 

I no longer see soccer as just a game, but as a refining process. Smelting is the process by which impure metal is melted in an extremely hot furnace until only what is pure remains. In the same way, I am being refined in the crucible of collegiate soccer under the relentless Florida sun of Ave Maria.

And this refining is still unfolding through soccer. Rooted in my identity as a daughter of the Lord, I am continually being shaped, stretched, and purified by His love in the daily grind of practices, games, setbacks, and growth. I am learning, through this experience, to live more fully from the truth that I am loved, known, and delighted in by God, and that truth is still forming who I am becoming both on and off the field.