Sports affect different people from a variety of backgrounds, each one taking away something different and unique to themselves. Whether you view it as an escape or simply as a game, there’s no denying it builds character.
Alyssa Phelan, senior midfielder, has played soccer all her life and with the end of her fourth year at Texas State on the horizon, Phelan has learned lessons she can take with her to the next stage of her life.
Raised in a sports-oriented family, her father being a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan, Phelan has an affinity towards sports. Despite only playing soccer in her high school years, Phelan is a big fan of two of the most popular sports in America.
“I love to watch football and baseball, the two big ones,” Phelan said.
The sociology major’s soccer career began at an early age, when Phelan was in the first grade.
“I started when I was about six,” Phelan said.
Although she eventually fell head over heels for the sport, the senior midfielder wasn’t too keen on soccer at first.
“My mom put me in it because I didn’t like all the physical stuff,” Phelan said. “She wanted to make me tough, it worked.”
Besides soccer, Phelan dabbled in tennis and track, but it was playing recreational soccer with a friend that really helped grab her attention.
“I played tennis and track,” Phelan said. “Then I played recreational soccer with one of my best friends, and we kind of played together and then you know rest.”
While playing soccer in high school, Phelan played in 47 games, scoring 10 goals and helped lead her team to back to back District 13-5A championships in 2011 and 2012. The Spring, Texas native also achieved the honors of being named All-District Second-Team for her sophomore and junior seasons.
Phelan became a member of the Texas State family in 2014 after taking a tour of the school, and fell in love with the area surrounding campus.
“I took an unofficial visit here with coach, we walked around the campus and I just loved it here,” Phelan said. “I loved the river, the scenery, everything seemed great.”
The senior’s instant chemistry with her fellow teammates made her decision to attend Texas State easier.
“It was all great,” Phelan said. “I met the team and they all just seemed like a big family.”
Majoring in sociology, Phelan is now at the end of her both athletic and academic collegiate career. She doesn’t exactly have a set plan for the future but intends to use her summer to figure out whether sociology is the field meant for her.
“I’m not too sure, I’m going to do an internship in the summer so we’ll see if I like anything with that,” Phelan said. “If not, I’m going to try to go into pharmaceutical sales.”
Phelan attributes her skill for time management to her time on the team.
“The time management part is big, just because we have meetings, films and then either school in-between practices or before it, and we just have to use our time really wisely and plan things ahead,” Phelan said.
Athletes at the end of their careers always look to go out on top and with the success of the 2017 women’s soccer team, going 10-5-1 in the regular season, Phelan is in position to go out as a winner.
“It felt like a dream you know, we started off tying and losing,” Phelan said. “But then once conference started we really stepped it up and played together as a team, playing together and knowing each other’s roles.”