Family Traditions
Sep 28, 2021 | Soccer
With a rich history of sisters joining the team and helping to win championships, it is a growing tradition that unintentionally and uniquely is a part of the Texas A&M soccer program.
Tradition. It is the passing of beliefs and ideas from one generation to the next, and Aggieland is enriched with tradition. It can be seen from the outside, the inside, and felt in the heart of every Aggie.
Nowhere is this truer than with Texas A&M soccer where the tradition of sisters continues today.
Head Coach G Guerrieri said it is a happy coincidence that the staff ends up recruiting sisters, and in total there have been nine pairs who have played for Texas A&M. Sisters have always played a big role on the team since the early nineties.
“We don’t have to recruit one to get the other,” Guerrieri said. “We recruit because they are talented.”
The most recent sisters on the team have been the Pounds, the Bates, and the Ziemers.
Haley Pounds played 2014-2017 and won an SEC championship and was well decorated with awards before she graduated. In 2020, Haley’s younger sister, Taylor, arrived on campus to make her mark in the soccer program.
Coming and watching her games, and getting to walk with her through her experiences really shaped how Taylor viewed A&M. A big reason why Taylor chose Texas A&M was because of her older sister.
“She is one of my biggest role models,” Taylor said. “I definitely looked up to her, and wanted to follow in her footsteps a little bit.”
Taylor plays in the midfield while her older sister played up top as a forward. While playing different positions is a little different, Taylor said it helped motivate her to get to the next level.
Even though they play differently on the field, they do share one thing in common - winning championships. For Taylor, it is awesome being able to share similar accomplishments and both winning a championship ring is surreal.
“It is cool seeing she was able to accomplish that,” Taylor said. “I want to accomplish even more.”
Taylor wants to leave her mark on the team by being one of the hardest workers on the field.
“People will remember how hard you work and your work ethics,” Taylor said.
Another current player, senior midfielder Kendall Bates, said she looked to her older sister's experiences at Texas A&M before deciding to come here to play. Emily Bates played from 2015-2019, but different from the Pounds, she got to play with her younger sister on Ellis Field for her senior season.
With her sister already playing in Aggieland for most of Kendall’s recruitment, she said her love for A&M grew the more she came to visit.
Kendall followed in her older sister’s footsteps committing to A&M, and her sister playing at Ellis Field was a big push into making her decision to come to this championship-winning program.
“As I spent more time here, it became more my dream school,” Kendall said. “My sister here was definitely a plus.”
When she got to campus her sister was a senior captain and she was the new kid on the block. While playing together Emily stayed on top of her and continually coached her all during her freshman season.
“She yelled at me more than she yelled at everybody else,” Kendall said. “But there is nothing more special than being able to be on the same team together.”
When Emily graduated, Kendall felt no added pressure for picking up what her sister had left behind.
“Her leaving helped me and left room for me to grow,” Kendall said. “It opened new doors for me and I was able to use everything she was able to teach me to grow into more of my own person.”
Just like her older sister, Kendall wears the Captain's badge as a senior.
Having similar leadership qualities, she has learned a lot from Emily but took the initiative to lead in her own way as captain.
“It is a dream come true,” Kendall said. “Not a lot of sisters can say something like that.”
Both Kendall and Taylor agreed that their sisters had an influence on them to play at A&M. Grateful for their older sisters' help, they are excited to leave their own mark in Aggieland.
“It is really a testament to her, because I wouldn’t be where I am today without her,” Kendall said. “I owe it all to her.”
