As her time as a college athlete is approaching its end, Rachel Grout, senior midfielder, reminisces her years as a Bobcat while also looking ahead to an anticipated future.
Grout started playing soccer in kindergarten, initially inspired by her sister.
“It was the one sport that interested me the most,” Grout said. “I always loved going to practices, and I thought it was the one I would be most successful in.”
Robin Grout, Rachel’s mother attended the university and was a part of the cheer and gymnastics teams.
“I came on a visit with her and really liked the coaching staff and all the girls who were here previously,” Rachel Grout said. “They recruited me and it just ended up working out. I looked at a couple of other schools, but this was the one that I really wanted to go to because my mom went here.”
Although Grout is a veteran to the student-athlete life, looking back, she has learned a thing or two every step of the way.
“Time management in the fall is hard, especially since we travel so much,” Grout said. “As a freshman, that was a big change, just trying to get used to it. But it’s something that you learn from and it’s fun. You’re never bored and you always have something that you’re doing. Time management is a big skill you learn through playing soccer.”
While Grout has seniority, with ten freshmen and seven seniors on the team, she wants every teammate to succeed no matter what year.
“Advice for the freshmen is to just enjoy it because it goes by fast,” Grout said. “The end of it will be here before you know it. Just enjoy every moment and take advantage of every opportunity.”
As a senior, Grout hopes to leave everything on the field for her final year.
“I hope that the seniors and I as a whole leave an impact and that we have a winning season,” Grout said. “I hope we can win the tournament, win conference and just leave on a good note.”
However, being one of seven seniors has been both rewarding and challenging for Grout.
“I think all of us are leaders in different ways,” Grout said. “We all play a lot and are all impact players so we all influence the younger players. It’s good that we have a big senior class and a big freshmen class so we’re kind of there for them. We kind of matched up with them and we have a little partner, so we lead them and try to show them the way.”
Grout also hopes that she inspires the freshmen class through not only her game play, but by also showing them what teammates are for.
“The friendships that I’ve made and just winning and getting to play with all my friends is my favorite part,” Grout said. “This year we’re all really close. We’re not separated in different groups—seniors, juniors, sophomores—we’re all friends.”
While her last season has already kicked off, Grout still takes every game and learns from it.
“We try to apply what coach is telling us in practice then apply it to the next game,” Grout said. “When I have a bad game, I try not to let it get to me. I just say move on to the next one. Everyone makes mistakes so just move on, and we’ll get the next one.”
She has always been interested in pursuing some type of an engineering career.
“I’m an industrial engineering major and I want to work for a big corporation doing some type of engineering job,” Grout said. “I’ve always been really interested in math and science, so I wanted to pick something that I liked and was good at.”
Grout has been a soccer player her entire time here at Texas State, and it is through her coaches she has found the best piece of advice.
“When you’re tired and you think you’re done or already feel like you’re there, you have so much more to give,” Grout said. “You can give ten percent more. You’re never at your full capacity, so push a little bit more. All of my coaches along the way have all lead me toward that.”