As school comes to a close, we find ourselves saying goodbye to this year’s seniors. Kaitlin Detzel is one of those seniors preparing to close this chapter of her life soon, but not before leaving her mark on the soccer field.
“I’ve been playing since my freshman year. And honestly, the thing that inspired me to play was Bobby. He pestered me into playing, and I enjoyed it enough to stay,” Detzel said.
This year, she was the goalie of the team, enjoying how she could take on opponents three times her size.
“I’ve become more resilient over the years. I’ve also learned that failure is not the end of the world,” Detzel said.
As she’s gotten older, she has made sure everyone had someone to talk to and gave advice when she could.
“My senior season has meant the world to me. Although there have been some rough days, I love my teammates and I love the relationships I’ve built with them so far,” Detzel said, “My favorite memory was the girls’ day practice we had where we had a little challenge and the punishment for losing was getting hit with water balloons.”
Despite all the fun, there have still been days that were harder than others. “One of the biggest challenges this season is showing up. I love soccer, but with it being the end of my senior year, it’s difficult not to just give up. I overcame it by realizing if I stopped now, I wouldn’t get as many days with these amazing girls as I would if I stayed,” Detzel explained.
When asked about whether or not Detzel plans to continue her soccer career in college, she reluctantly said no. “I probably will not continue playing after high school. I would, but I don’t think I have the time management skills to juggle college classes and soccer,” Detzel said.
Though Detzel doesn’t see herself playing in the future, she hopes that her time spent playing at Hancock leaves a good impression on the underclassmen she had the opportunity to play with. “I hope my teammates remember how even on a rough day, I did not give up and quit, and that they shouldn’t give up either.” Detzel expressed.
As for what’s coming next, Detzel plans to attend Southeastern University. “I’m going to study marine biology. I plan on going into marine rescue after I graduate from college,” Detzel said. When asked how she got into marine biology, she explained how she had an interest in the ocean and how it would be fun to work in it. What hit the nail on the coffin was the movie Dolphin Tale for her. “It made me realize that marine biology was an option, and who doesn’t want to live by the ocean?” Detzel asked.
Detzel’s advice for people who are thinking about going down the same career path is that they should go for it. “If you don’t give it a try, then later down the line you could look back and regret it. If one of the main factors of not choosing it is because you’re worried about not succeeding, then I would say you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
