‘The more I cut with a hacksaw, the more I saw it was real,’
January 31, 2013Locals begin soccer playoffs
February 5, 2013
One of the Tri-parish area’s best soccer players is officially taking her talents to the collegiate level.
Vandebilt Catholic standout Makelle Pena signed a collegiate scholarship this week to continue her playing career at the University of Mobile in Alabama.
The Lady Terriers’ prolific striker held a ceremony at the school Friday to announce her intentions and to officially ink her name on the scholarship papers.
Pena said it’s a dream come true knowing that her career will continue for at least four more seasons.
“I’ve always dreamed about this and I’ve always wanted to play at that next level,” Pena said. “I always had that desire to see how it’d be to play for a university and to represent something different than a high school or a local team. … This is another level and it’s a big responsibility, but I can’t wait to get started.”
Pena landed on the radar of colleges because of her dominant play in the past few seasons for Vandebilt.
The Lady Terrier has been a key contributor in the team’s powerful offense that has pushed Vandebilt to the state finals each of the past three seasons, while also placing the team into the playoffs this year as Division II’s No. 1 overall seed.
So far in her senior season, Pena’s been a nightmare for opponents. She’s recorded 43 goals and 35 assists in 27 regular season games – statistics that have helped Vandebilt win 24 of their 27 games so far in 2012-13.
Pena said the University of Mobile in Alabama came into the picture after they watched her play at a club tournament in Texas this past summer.
The Lady Terrier is a member of the New Orleans-based team called the Chicago Fire.
“They saw one of my games and they came talk to me,” Pena said. “He was just talking and telling me about the school and telling me that they were interested in me. … That’s kind of how it started.”
From initial contact bred mutual interest, as Pena made an official visit to Mobile this past August.
While there, she said she was able to get a hands-on taste of what college life is going to be like.
“I got to go on the road with the girls and I got to watch them play a game,” Pena said. “It was a really good experience. I just kind of fit in with their girls. They really made me feel at home. That’s important. Anytime you’re going to be away from your parents and everything like that and you’re going to be in another state, you’ve got to have that home-like feel and I felt that there with Mobile.”
Pena talked about feeling at home. Even in a faraway place, she’s comfortable on the soccer pitch. The Lady Terrier said she was able to practice with the University of Mobile’s players during her visit to get a first-hand look at what to expect out of the college level.
She said she will spend her final offseason working to polish all aspects of her game – a dedication she said is present because her future coach Brian Person has told her that she could possibly play right away because Mobile is losing eight seniors to graduation.
“They said that I could come in and be a really great fit as an attacking mid,” Pena said. “They are losing a good bit of seniors and some of the girls that are leaving are that position. … The coach has told me ever since I committed that I’d have a chance to play right away.”
Pena signed on Friday, but she’s been committed to Mobile for quite a while. The Vandebilt senior said she phoned in a verbal pledge to Person on Oct. 19, 2012 – the same night the Terriers’ football team beat Assumption in an overtime thriller.
She said she pulled the trigger because the school was willing to take care of her academically, as well as athletically.
“He told me that he’d be able to offer me a full ride to the university,” Pena said. “That was huge to me. I really needed that because when you go out of state, you don’t have TOPS or anything like that.”
She said the commitment’s timing also allowed her to focus exclusively on Vandebilt throughout all of her senior season.
Pena will be joining a winning program in Mobile.
The Lady Rams have advanced to postseason play in each of the past three years, including in 2011 when the team finished 19-4-1 and reached the Elite 8.
This past season, the team finished with a 15-4-2 record, while also advancing to the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship’s Round of 16.
Pena said after being with a winning program throughout high school, it was important to her that she had the same opportunity to compete for championships in college.
The Vandebilt senior added that she plans to major in physical therapy while enrolled at Mobile.
All-in-all, she’s excited to face the new challenge and begin her collegiate career.
“This is like a job,” Pena said. “They can take a scholarship away if you don’t do the things you’re supposed to do. It’s exciting and it’s a dream come true, too. But I have to always keep up my work rate and I always have to be on my A-game.
“This is like a dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to push my career to that next step and to the next level. I can’t wait to get started.”
Vandebilt Catholic soccer player Makelle Pena pushes the ball up the field during a game this season. Pena announced this week that she would extend her playing career to the next level, signing a scholarship to play for the University of Mobile in Alabama. The Lady Terrier earned her place in the next level after scoring 43 goals in her senior season.
