NAOTB: Maysen Veronda
Each week, Madeline Osborn of 12thMan.com checks in with a newcomer on the Texas A&M soccer team.
This week, freshman Maysen Veronda chatted about arriving in Aggieland where she joins a corps of talented goalkeepers.
What age did you start playing soccer? And what are some of your earliest memories of playing?
I started at AYSO like every other girl in their early ages of soccer, but I didn't really play club until eight or nine. My earliest memories were probably around eight or nine and my parents put me in the Strikers FC camp because I'm from Orange County, but I was dreading it. They didn't tell me about it, and I was upset because I just did not want to play soccer anymore. I went to the camp, and I absolutely loved it. They put me in goal and that's basically what started it. I wouldn't have played soccer without that camp. .
I was going to ask you what your origin story was on becoming a goalkeeper. Is there any more to it?
There's no like preparation for that. I didn't look at being a goalkeeper and I wasn’t like, oh my gosh, I want to be a goalkeeper. I started out as a forward. But one of my rec league coaches just threw me in the goal and I kind of fell in love with the adrenaline part of it
What age did you realize that you could play Division I soccer?
I would say probably when I started gaining my confidence around 13 or 14. That's when I saw soccer and I was like, I really want to do this and pursue this at a division one level.
What was your recruitment process like?
It was like Christmas morning. It was so exciting. It was mainly text messages. I got a couple of emails but basically a few text messages in the morning to the coach’s kind of introduce themselves and then we set up a call from there. .
What did you know about Aggieland before coming here?
I had no idea about Aggieland before coming here because I'm from California. I had no idea about Texas schools other than the University of Texas. Once I did my research about Texas A&M I was like, this is a huge school and even when I came here, I just felt the energy that Texas and Texas A&M shows, and it was amazing.
Has it lived up to the hype so far?
I think it's definitely getting there. I tell my roommates and my friends that it's so cool being able to step on Ellis Field. I definitely think the hype is coming. Since we came in a semester early, we kind of got the mellow part of it. Now as we're getting into season and football season, I think it's going to be really cool.
What was the adjustment like moving from California to Texas?
It was super hard. I always tell my friends like the first two weeks are the absolutely the hardest part because I'm so close to my family. I have two other siblings and we're all relatively the same age, but they're both younger. It was definitely hard leaving them and not being there to see them pursue their sports.
From a goalkeeper's perspective, what goes through your head before a penalty kick or even just a free kick that's close to goal?
I always tell everyone that asks me this question, absolutely nothing. I am not thinking because when I think I tend to overthink and that always throws me off. I try to erase everything from my mind. I just stare the shooter down and I react.
Do you have any athlete you looked up to as a kid?
I looked up to a lot of athletes, I would say Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, I really like basketball. I think Kobe Bryant and the Mamba mentality just represents everything that I want to strive for. Michael Jordan is just an absolute legend. Watching them both and how Kobe looked up to MJ. That is the mentality I look up to.
You have a lot of pressure being the goalkeeper. You're the last line of defense. What do you do to ease that pressure? Is there a certain mentality you have?
I'm a little more introverted off the field, so when I step on the field, I kind of switch gears. I think of this game as more than myself as something that I need to kind of step into the leadership role as a goalkeeper. I honestly like a penalty kick. I just forget about everything else, but except for what's going on the field to be a confident leader and to be brave because that's everything a goalkeeper needs to have.
Coach G was a goalkeeper. What is like having him be your head coach with all that experience.
He's one of the main reasons why I'm here. Having a head coach as your goalkeeper coach is very rare to find and he is so technical. He looks in the little details which I'm also just fascinated by because when he goes into the little details, you can see how they really apply to the game, and they can really change the game too. It can be from just diving forward. This is something that's emphasized a lot, but it's something that is so huge in goalkeeping. Looking into the little details, they help so much, and I feel like I've grown so much with him.
What are things you like to do in your free time?
Well, since I'm from California I love to go to the beach. I learned how to play guitar when I was 12. I love music and if I'm not playing soccer, I'm playing guitar or I'm learning songs to play on the guitar.
What kind of music do you like?
You can ask anyone; I love like R&B artists. You don't even have to know me to know that my favorite artist is SZA I love, then Daniel Caesar, Don Toliver, and Drake. But I think Kendrick won that battle.
What about on the guitar? What's your go-to song?
Oh, it's a good one right now. I've been leaning into Jack Johnson, but I love to play Sweet Creature by Harry Styles, Stop This Train by John Mayer. I like to learn new songs; I'm learning Gravity right now and that's awesome.
What are your career aspirations after Texas A&M?
I definitely want to go pro, enter into the NWSL draft and hopefully one day get on the national team. That's been a dream of mine since I fell in love with soccer.
