By Anne Larsen
Sya Magee has been playing soccer since she was a little kid, and has been a part of the Blackhills FC family since joining her first U12 team years ago. When the family moved stateside, she joined a recreation team and fell in love with the game. As her skills progressed, she and her parents looked for a club team to foster her desire to play and be a better match for her skill level. “My parents put me in ballet, gymnastics and soccer– and somehow I just ended up sticking with soccer. Then my sister and brother followed.”
She joined her U12 Blackhills FC team midseason and played at that level for two years. “I was out there every day. I remember one summer I was out there easily 8 hours a day. I would go out and do the Wembley camps (3 sessions -1.5 hours each) and then I’d stay out on the fields from 4PM- 8PM and play soccer all evening. I liked playing, it was fun. My parents were ok with it. They’d just drop me off and pick me up later when I was done.”
“I remember Sya’s first U12 practice with the Club. Sya was so eager to learn and improve that she would practice 3-4 days per week. It has been impressive to see her progress, not only as a soccer player but most importantly as a solid team member. She is kind, helpful, respectful and a great role model for the children in our community. She has been a tremendous Super Mod assistant coach for the Blackhills and Tumwater Soccer Club programs,” says Coach James Charette.
Joining a club team after years of recreation league might be intimidating to some kids, but Sya remembers Coach Charette during one of her first practices. “He started doing those funny little exercises like ‘making chickie, chickie, bird, bird, skipping’ – which is stuff I do now with Super Mod kids. It made it enjoyable to play with Blackhills.”
She started out as a center defender and she played that position until U13, when coach Charette decided to move her to center midfielder and that’s where she’s been ever since. Currently, her coach, David Cross, has her attack and defend in her center midfield position. “When I play attack, I’ll usually get the layoff from a forward so I can play it forward or switch the field. And when I’m playing defensive mid I’ll mark one of the other players and switch the ball side-to-side. Then regardless of where I am, I’ll usually make a run up forward and try to score a goal.”
I need Sya to come and talk to my 8-year-old son about the glory and beauty of being a center midfielder. On his soccer team, every kid thinks they are a forward, except for the goalie! Sya needs to preach the beauty of being a good center midfielder. “It’s not about the scoring so much – although I do like to win, I’m a competitive person. It’s about making the play – and that’s what you do as a center mid. It’s a good opportunity to do a lot of foot skills and even if you don’t score you can make the run that motivates everyone else.”
So how does a girl that would practice 8 hours a day stay motivated? Once she starts playing she has such a good time, she just stays motivated. “During the game I’ll think ‘how can I motivate my teammates?’ What can I do to change this game? If we’re down a goal, I’ll think ‘how can I get everyone else pushing forward’ or if they have one good play ‘how can we make it so everyone is marking.'”
“Sya is a self motivator. She loves to play the game and she knows hard work will help her be the best player she can be,” comments Coach David Cross.
For a player like Sya – a player that cannot get enough soccer – Blackhills FC is the perfect match. “One of the biggest things that I like about Blackhills FC is that you can go to any practice — as many as you want.” Remember those 8 hour days? Yep, that’s how it’s done.
She not only trains hard, but she’s also a great teammate and coachable player. “Sya is a coach’s dream. She works hard and tries to do it the right way,” reports her coach. This is great because Sya herself is a coach. She has been coaching Super Mod for at least 3 seasons (Summer, Fall and Spring), and thinks it’s really fun.
Both Sya and her younger sister plan on playing for Timberline HS this year as center midfielders. Watch out! Magee sisters running the lines and changing up the game! If I were going to give her competition a little inside tip, I’d tell them to watch her runs, especially after the throw-ins. She’s known for “seeing the game” and making the runs down the line and crossing it over.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Sya these past few years. She was plagued with an ankle injury that took her out of the game for a long period of time. That experience has driven her desire to study physical therapy in college. Her personal highlight from this past season was coming back from that injury, which is always hard to do.
Sya will most certainly look back at her years of playing soccer and more recently playing with Blackhills FC with fond memories. Coach David Cross hopes she walks away a ” soccer player for life at whatever level she wants, with teammates, coaches and a club that she will look back on with a smile.”
Thankfully we all have another year of Sya Magee. Look for her on the Thurston County soccer fields sporting not only a Blackhills FC jersey, but a Timberline High School one as well! Good luck Sya!
