Often in sports when an athlete reaches the end of their career, they refuse to leave the sport they’ve dedicated much of their lives to without leaving a lasting impression.
Kassi Hormuth looks to do just that in her final season with the women’s soccer team.
“I give it my all in every game, but especially this year because it is the very end,” Hormuth said. “We have six conference games left. You’ve got to give it everything while you’re out there, take it all in.”
Ten games into the 2017 season, Hormuth has already matched her 2016 goal total, at three goals in the season so far and picked up an impressive game-winning header off a corner kick against Arkansas State on Sept. 24.
From Cedar Park, Texas, the senior forward has been playing soccer since she was four. Along with her brother and sister, Hormuth was raised in a sports-oriented family. In high school, she sampled multiple sports before finally choosing soccer.
“My brother played football and baseball growing up,” Hormuth said. “My sister is playing soccer now. She’s in seventh grade (and has) been playing since she was 4 also.”
Hormuth has received several accolades in her time at Texas State. She made the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s list back-to-back and was named Texas State’s 2016 Offensive MVP.
Aside from the soccer program, it was a combination of factors that helped the senior forward choose Texas State as her home for four years.
“I’ve always had an interest in education, and I knew Texas State was a really good education prep school,” Hormuth said. “My mom came here and she loved it. I love the river and being outdoors.”
As the end of her collegiate sports career looms and with just one more year left, Hormuth has begun looking at what path she’ll take after college.
The wear and tear of playing soccer for so long and the desire for new experiences play a major part in the senior’s decision.
“Within the last year I’ve been looking into going into the Peace Corps, teaching wherever they place me overseas for two years,” Hormuth said. “But I also thought about playing after. I’m not sure though, it depends on how my legs feel.”
Hormuth sees the Peace Corps as a great opportunity to experience the world outside of her own bubble and to help those in need.
“I’ve always been wanting to go to new places and that it’s a great way to give back,” Hormuth said.
It was a conversation with a former coach that showed Hormuth what continuing to play soccer may have to offer after her time with Texas State reaches its conclusion.
“I ran into one of my old club coaches the other day,” Hormuth said. “He said some of his old girls had gone to play in Iceland so that sparked my interest, too.”
Of all the memories Hormuth has collected over her four years, the memory of her first collegiate goal and the feeling that came with it still resonates strongly with the senior.
“My freshman year, our very first game, I scored my very first collegiate goal against Houston Baptist University,” Hormuth said. “The first collegiate goal, first game. It was an unreal start to this college journey.”
Hormuth credits her time playing soccer as an important influence in preparing her for the next phase of her life and her potential teaching career.
“Working and being with the team for so long teaches you how to work with people and understand different points of view,” Hormuth said. “Being a captain this year, learning to lead, I think that would carry over into the classroom. It’s given me a lot of life skills over the years.”