Stella Zielinski (9) has always had a love for soccer. And now, she gets to bring that love to the varsity team as the new starting goalkeeper.
Zielinski started soccer when she was little. “I started soccer when I was 6,” Zielinski said. This was also around the
time that she started goalkeeping. “No one else wanted to do it, so I kind of got thrown into it. We needed a goalkeeper, and all of the other 6 year olds were scared to be in the goal, so I said I’d do it.”
Her favorite feeling as a goalkeeper is feeling like she helped her team. “The best feeling is helping your team win against a really tough team.”
Zielinski has plans to continue doing soccer throughout the rest of high school and into college. “I want to go to college for it. It is a major thing that I plan on doing. I’ve already been looking at colleges and going to ID camps.”
In order to get to where she is today, Zielinski has had to overcome some struggles. She has dealt with coaches and teammates that don’t quite understand her position. “It kind of feels like I am on an island sometimes because it is a very different position.”
Zielinski is excited to start her varsity soccer
career. With that being said, she still has some nerves about starting. “It’s scary because I am the youngest one on my team.” She also feels that a lot of added pressure comes with being a freshman on varsity.
“There is pressure because I really want to do good, I’m the only goalkeeper so if I make a mistake, it can cost [us] the game. You have to have a good mindset,” Zielinski said. “I can keep my team from losing by not letting any goals in. Goalkeeping is a lot about mindset and how you deal with pressure.”
Soccer coach Heidi Kleekamp is excited to work with Zielinski for the next few years.
“You can tell that she has a strong technique from goalie training and you can tell she plays at a high level,” Kleekamp said. “We felt like we could trust her in our back line to do what we need to do for varsity.”
Zielinski’s goals for the season are beating Timberland, having a few shutouts (games where she doesn’t let any goals in), and most importantly, she doesn’t want to let her team down and prove that she is worthy of being on the team.
