Although soccer season has come to an end, Julia Pritchard, SSU senior and fourth year midfielder for the women’s team, remains thankful for the time she spent with her teammates and the goals she accomplished while at SSU. As Pritchard prepares to graduate, she begins reflecting on what brought her to Sonoma State and how the soccer program shaped her college experience.
Just before her season began to wind down, Pritchard, who was also the reigning captain of the team, walked away with one of the highest honors a college athlete can get: First Team All-West Region. This is a very tough award to get ,as everyone else in the division is also eligible to receive it. Although her season is over, Pritchard looks back at her four year run with fondness and will always thank her teammates and coach for a fulfilling four years at Sonoma State.
In her fourth and final year of being a Sonoma State student athlete, she decided to take a trip down memory lane and discuss why she came to Sonoma State in the first place, she loved the beautiful campus vibe and excellent soccer program as well as the welcoming and friendly atmosphere that all Seawolves, past and current should be well aware of.
Pritchard is currently a senior double majoring in Psychology and Kinesiology, which can be very difficult to balance with being an athlete. She mentioned how being a student athlete completely ruled her college experience; how she was always on the go, constantly working on stuff as a result. Whether it be school work, practice, or class, she never really has much downtime to relax on or off campus.
When she does have free time, she enjoys bike rides with her boyfriend, watching movie series with her roommates, or going to the beach with friends or family when she journeys back home.
Pritchard strives to have a good balance between her personal life and her athletic/school life, which can be tough seeing as she’s the captain of the women’s soccer team. She described that the balance can be tough, but as a captain she always has to be on for her team and pushing each member to do their best, as well as herself to strive for greatness as they maintain the status of going all the way to the top in the conference championship tournament.
She explained that the conference championship tournament was truly one of the biggest highlights of her SSU soccer career: “…back to back conference champions, [she said] it’s not easy, every year we have to battle our way through ups and downs, such as this year where we had many new freshman starters, and overcome adversity, seeing as we come from a relatively small school.”
This drive and competitiveness is what motivates her team to do the best they can whether that’s on or off the field. She enjoys being on a team that constantly pushes her to do her best and work hard for the spot that she received. Being a captain was stressful at times but she’s happy with where she’s worked hard to get to and said that her program is made for winners and that’s just the type of mentality that she uses to get her through a tough day on or off the pitch.
While Pritchard’s season winds down, she’s forever grateful for her team and coach who helped her get through this journey, as well as the family and friends along the way who helped her through tough times.
