At five years old, sophomore Tessa Grooters never could’ve foreseen the future career she would have in soccer.

“I started soccer because my older sister and brother both played and I thought it would be fun to try,” Tessa said. “Now I’ve been playing soccer for about 11 years.”

Her career began at AYSO until her parents allowed her to join a more competitive league playing for Crew in second grade. Crew turned to Midwest, and she has found herself playing there for the past nine years.

Playing competitively in club soccer offers some very special opportunities. Among them is that Tessa has been able to play with her very close group of teammates since she joined the team, and this is one of her favorite aspects that club soccer offers.  

“My favorite part of club soccer is definitely the coaches and teammates,” Tessa said. “My teammates are girls that I have been able to play with since I joined club, so we know each other really well and playing with them is super fun. The coaches are all super supportive and help me with anything that I need in both soccer and school so it is a really good community.”

Tessa plays at the highly competitive ECNL level of soccer with Midwest United, and the program is unique in the fact that the team travels over a wide range of states to find suitable competition.

The travel itself has created some of Tessa’s all-time favorite memories in the sport. 

“The best memories I have from club soccer are when we travel,” Tessa said. “Since I play for the academy team, we get to play in a lot of different states. My favorite memory was when we went to Tennessee last December because we all stayed together in the same rooms and got to spend the whole weekend playing and hanging out without any parents.”

Recently, however, Tessa’s soccer career course has taken a shift as she is playing her first high school season this spring. 

“I chose to play high school [soccer] this year because I wanted to play in a new environment where I could meet new people and more girls at my school,” Tessa said. 

Tessa plays outside back for the FHC Ranger Girls Soccer (RGSO) team, and has had a successful season thus far. She scored the first goal of the season for the team, doubling as her first goal on the team. 

High school soccer has been beneficial for Tessa because not only does she get to meet new girls in different age groups, but she feels playing with her older teammates helps her get better. 

“I think that mixing grades is important because it lets me play with older girls which helps me learn and get better,” Tessa said. 

This season has had a few ups and downs for the team as well as Tessa, but one stand out moment for her was winning big in the teams historic rivalry with Byron Center, ending the game with the score 4 to 1.

“My favorite memory so far from high school soccer was when we beat Byron Center,” Tessa said. “We played a really great game and beating Byron was really important for us because it’s a big rivalry game and they are always a good team, so it was really cool being able to beat them by so much.”

Another aspect of the team Tessa enjoys is their pre-game traditions on the bus and in the locker rooms where they get prepared for the game by listening to music and dancing and singing. 

As only a sophomore this season, and already being so successful, Tessa is looking forward to the continuation of her soccer career and is looking forward to what comes next as she continues to grow as a player.

“Definitely one of my favorite parts of high school soccer is the bus rides and locker room before the games when we all get to hangout and listen to music” Tessa said. “I like that we are able to spend so much time together so we can have some team bonding.”