SerpApi.Org
Madelyn Smith has become the kind of person anyone would want on their side.
She's a dreamer - and a doer.
Smith, the 2021 Telegraph Girls Soccer Player of the Year as a senior at Marquette Catholic High, went on to play at Saint Louis University and later at Drake.
And she's living one of her dreams right now.
Smith is playing professional soccer in the Frauen-Bundesliga 2 with FFC Turbine Potsdam, one of the most successful women's soccer teams in Germany.
Just five years ago, she had just graduated from Marquette. Now, she has become a pro soccer player, which was one of her earliest athletic dreams.
"I've always wanted to go pro since I was a kid," Smith said. "When I committed to play in college, I always said that was my end goal. After my final season at Drake ended, my coaches made sure I followed my dream and helped me down the path to find an agent."
So she made a resume and a highlight reel, then reached out to a lot of agencies until she found one that she felt would get her where she wanted to go.
"When the offer for FFC Turbine Potsdam came through the door," she said, "I decided to take it."
Solid senior season
A determined midfielder, she played her senior season last fall determined to fulfill that professional soccer dream she'd had since she was a pee wee player. She started every match as the conductor of the midfield, scored two goals and logged four assists to help Drake win the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship.
In the process, she was First-Team All-MVC and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Team. She also was on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and grabbed CSC Academic All-District honors and received the fall State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award for her community and academic contributions.
Her three seasons at Drake were preceded by a season at Saint Louis U., after which she elected to enter the transfer portal.
"I enjoyed my time at SLU and learned a lot from some of the best teammates, friends and staff, but I decided to find a new challenge and entered the transfer portal," she said. "My time at both SLU and Drake affected me soccer-wise by helping me understand the importance of all parts of the game - defense, attack, structure, communication and teamwork.
"It also helped me understand that things won’t always be easy and you have to find the grit within yourself to keep going. It was really important for me to be challenged, to learn and grow from mistakes and trust in myself to be impactful for my team."
New team, new country
Smith graduated from Drake in May and took up residence in Potsdam less than two months later.
The season starts Aug. 2, but the team trains every day, lifts weights twice a week, cycles and sprinkles in some off days and team bonding events and what it refers to as "test matches."
"I arrived in Germany on July 1 and jumped right into training the next day," Smith said. "Now that I have practice, lift, and game time under my belt, I feel like I'm adjusting and learning a bit more each and every day."
Smith is adjusting to her new life in Germany.
"Of course, being an international coming into a new team, country and setup, it has been an adjustment to learn how things are done," Smith said. "The team, staff and locals have been great in helping me get established and feel welcome. Every day, I feel like I connect a bit more and learn something new which is exciting and fresh."
Smith is not the only American on her new team. In fact, there are players from several countries on the roster.
"There are two other Americans currently on the team, one who has been at the club and is returning and one who has played in Austria and moved to Turbine Potsdam this season," she said. "The team is very diverse with players from Germany, the U.S., Brazil, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark and Hungary.
"A lot of players speak English, so I can understand a lot. But it's also very cool to see and hopefully pick up some different languages and cultures as well."
Proud of her roots
Smith is quite conscious of her soccer roots.
"I started like any kid," she said, "playing on rec teams as well as my CYC team when I was around 3. I joined a club called Panathinaikos FC when I was in second grade and became a bit more serious about soccer. I ended up making a switch to Sporting STL in 2016 for a year. As a team, we then combined with another youth team and moved to Missouri Rush until 2018.
"As a whole team, we moved to Lou Fusz in 2018, where I finished out my high school career. It does sound like I club hopped a bit, but the team moved as a whole, so I pretty much grew up playing with the same girls my whole life."
Then there were her four seasons at Marquette, including the 2021 campaign that was adjusted when the IHSA created a temporary "summer" season for girls soccer to accommodate COVID-19 disruptions. Play took place from April 19 through June 26 and featured a full state tournament series.
Historically, girls high school soccer in Illinois and Missouri is played in the spring, which allowed girls soccer to be played alongside baseball, softball, and track and field in the "summer block," while boys soccer was moved to the spring.
Smith led the Explorers to two sectional titles during her years at Marquette and came within an eyelash of the state tourney that senior season. Belleville Althoff ended the Explorers' state tourney dream in a super-sectional OT win.
"Coach Hoener has been a very impactful coach for me," she said of Marquette coach Brian Hoener. "I have maintained contact with him throughout my college career to now. He has always been someone who has pushed me and spoke to me with complete honesty to make me a better player, person and teammate.
"Some of my favorite memories, of course, include winning in a Marquette jersey. But my favorite memories came from laughing at practice and enjoying the little moments.
"I can’t believe I'm admitting to this," she said with a laugh, "but seeing the reaction on his face when he megged me one time will go down in history as one of my favorite memories."
In soccer, "megging" (or "nutmegging") is a skill where a player kicks the ball between an opponent's legs and regains possession on the other side.
Smith, who scored 11 goals and 18 assists as a senior, looked at playing central midfielder as being a kind of quarterback on the soccer field.
“Sometimes I don't get the most impressive scoring stats,” she said, “but a lot of scoring starts with a central midfielder distributing the ball to the right place.”
It's a concept that served her well through college and she hopes it will in the Bundesliga as well.
Grateful and determined
"I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who helped me get to this point," Smith said, "including my family, coaches, teammates and friends who supported me throughout my journey.
"This has been a dream of mine for a long time and still doesn’t feel real that I’m living it out. I'm excited and grateful to represent where I came from while continuing to grow as a player in Germany and hopefully make a positive impact."
