Seven years ago, Stella Hernandez (9) stepped into her older sisters cleats and started her journey into her family sport, soccer. She now plays for the club team NWI Lions United and on the JV team at the highschool.

Being on two teams allows Hernandez to learn different positions within the sport as she plays more on the offensive side for the high school playing on while playing defense for her club team.

“I really like having runs and drives when I’m on the wing for high school, but I’d say I like being on defense for the club,” Hernandez said. “I feel like it’s a hard position, it’s challenging in a good way.” 

Even in a different half of the field Hernandez got the chance to be on the bench for varsity which she attributes to  her ability to communicate on the field. 

“One accomplishment was getting time with varsity, even though I was on JV, I feel working hard enough to be on the bench for varsity,” Hernandez said. “I feel like I was good at communicating and I was really uplifting and just helped everybody out for the most part.” 

Communication plays a big role in the sport for Hernandez and is one of life lessons she took from the soccer field. Hernandez has a passion for helping people which started while playing soccer with her team and will carry into her future as she strives to become a nurse.

“I really want to be a nurse or help people in some way. Again with communication, I really like helping people and lifting them up and that’s inspired me to be a nurse,” Hernandez said. “I want to help people and when I communicate on the field it feels like I’m trying to help others in that sense.”

In those seven years Hernandez gained important communication skills and developed a passion for the sport as she hopes to continue with it through college.