By Scott DeCamp
LocalSportsJournal.com
RAVENNA – When Monroe Wilde began playing soccer as a youngster, she didn’t know what she didn’t know.
Wilde just knew, she didn’t want to be a keeper. Or so she thought.
“My mom threw me in goal because we needed a keeper. Honestly, at first I was like, ‘Ah, nah, I don’t want to be a goalkeeper, but I guess I’ll do it,’” Wilde recalled, scrunching her nose. “Then all of a sudden, I was like, ‘Hey, I kind of like this,’ so I stuck with it. My dad started training me and that’s kind of where that took off.”
Fast forward to the present: The 17-year-old daughter of Chris and Andrea Wilde has made a name for herself – in goal, and will appear in the Michigan High School Athletic Association record books for career saves.
“I think it’s amazing and, I mean, I’ve been working for this for four years now,” Wilde said. “I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to do this. I want to thank my dad and mom and rest of my family for supporting me and especially Midwest United because that’s where I think I took my biggest steps as a goalkeeper, where I could do this.”
The 5-foot-6 Wilde has honed her goalkeeping skills through club soccer and through work with coach Chris Taborn from Tiger Goalkeeping.
LocalSportsJournal.com
RAVENNA – When Monroe Wilde began playing soccer as a youngster, she didn’t know what she didn’t know.
Wilde just knew, she didn’t want to be a keeper. Or so she thought.
“My mom threw me in goal because we needed a keeper. Honestly, at first I was like, ‘Ah, nah, I don’t want to be a goalkeeper, but I guess I’ll do it,’” Wilde recalled, scrunching her nose. “Then all of a sudden, I was like, ‘Hey, I kind of like this,’ so I stuck with it. My dad started training me and that’s kind of where that took off.”
Fast forward to the present: The 17-year-old daughter of Chris and Andrea Wilde has made a name for herself – in goal, and will appear in the Michigan High School Athletic Association record books for career saves.
“I think it’s amazing and, I mean, I’ve been working for this for four years now,” Wilde said. “I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to do this. I want to thank my dad and mom and rest of my family for supporting me and especially Midwest United because that’s where I think I took my biggest steps as a goalkeeper, where I could do this.”
The 5-foot-6 Wilde has honed her goalkeeping skills through club soccer and through work with coach Chris Taborn from Tiger Goalkeeping.
Others have noticed, too. Wilde is taking her talents to Division II Saginaw Valley State University, having signed with the Cardinals in November.
“She is a very confident player. She is incredibly good at her position,” said Ravenna senior center back Olivia Emery, a close friend of Wilde and the Bulldogs’ primary defender positioned in front of their keeper.
“She knows what she’s doing and she knows when to push up. She is probably our best player. Honestly, she makes me proud every game because she puts in her best effort. She pushes others to put in their best effort. She’s just so sweet – she’s such a ray of sunshine.”
At SVSU, Wilde intends on majoring in environmental science and biology and minoring in agriculture.
She carries a 3.95 GPA at Ravenna, putting her among the elite of her graduating class.
“I love working with plants and I like watching them grow,” Wilde said. “I’ve always had plants around the house I’ve taken care of. I’ve taken classes in school where I’ve had to manage plants. It’s just a lot of fun. And my dad actually works in the agriculture field and I think that’s probably another part of it is, I got to hear a lot about it and so that kind of helped me make that decision.”
Soccer is a team game, but it does take a lot of moxie to play keeper, especially one who stays busy as Wilde does. Ravenna coach Keith Marsman said that Wilde possesses a “grind mentality,” as a hard worker who never gives up.
“It takes a special player to play that position as well because they feel a little more weight with each of the goals, I think,” Marsman said. “To be able to carry a little bit of that and to be able to dismiss that quicker makes her a little bit more special.”
Said Wilde: “It definitely takes guts to run at someone’s feet and take the ball away, but honestly it’s really rewarding. Like, every time you make a save, you hear people, like, cheering and it’s a really great feeling. It’s really rewarding, especially when you win a game and you make a ton of saves. That’s just a great feeling to know that you contributed to that.”
Making this journey even more special to Wilde is the fact that her father serves as an assistant on the Ravenna coaching staff.
Wilde said it means “everything” to her to share these moments with her dad, a detail-oriented person who has a knack for spotting the finer things.
“When I came off the field for halftime (April 15 at Fremont), he came up to me and he said, ‘You have one (save) left. You need one more save (to reach 530).’ He’s really good at finding four-leaf clovers and he found two of them and we put one in each glove for good luck,” she said with a big smile.
During that milestone game at Fremont, a rainbow appeared overhead during the first half, which also brought joy to Wilde. As with her father, the little things matter to her.
Wilde is eager to take the next step when she heads to SVSU and tests herself at the collegiate level, both academically and athletically. However, this time in her life means the world to her.
“I met with some of the players (at SVSU) through ID camps and stuff and they are so kind and they’re really helpful with any questions I had. The coaches are really nice and I really like their program,” Wilde said. “I like that it’s going to push me and I’m going to reach new levels through their program. That’s what I’m really looking forward to is just being able to push
myself and take that next step and just the competition and competing. I love that.
“I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to do this (at Ravenna) and I could not have gotten here without my family and all of their encouragement.”
“She is a very confident player. She is incredibly good at her position,” said Ravenna senior center back Olivia Emery, a close friend of Wilde and the Bulldogs’ primary defender positioned in front of their keeper.
“She knows what she’s doing and she knows when to push up. She is probably our best player. Honestly, she makes me proud every game because she puts in her best effort. She pushes others to put in their best effort. She’s just so sweet – she’s such a ray of sunshine.”
At SVSU, Wilde intends on majoring in environmental science and biology and minoring in agriculture.
She carries a 3.95 GPA at Ravenna, putting her among the elite of her graduating class.
“I love working with plants and I like watching them grow,” Wilde said. “I’ve always had plants around the house I’ve taken care of. I’ve taken classes in school where I’ve had to manage plants. It’s just a lot of fun. And my dad actually works in the agriculture field and I think that’s probably another part of it is, I got to hear a lot about it and so that kind of helped me make that decision.”
Soccer is a team game, but it does take a lot of moxie to play keeper, especially one who stays busy as Wilde does. Ravenna coach Keith Marsman said that Wilde possesses a “grind mentality,” as a hard worker who never gives up.
“It takes a special player to play that position as well because they feel a little more weight with each of the goals, I think,” Marsman said. “To be able to carry a little bit of that and to be able to dismiss that quicker makes her a little bit more special.”
Said Wilde: “It definitely takes guts to run at someone’s feet and take the ball away, but honestly it’s really rewarding. Like, every time you make a save, you hear people, like, cheering and it’s a really great feeling. It’s really rewarding, especially when you win a game and you make a ton of saves. That’s just a great feeling to know that you contributed to that.”
Making this journey even more special to Wilde is the fact that her father serves as an assistant on the Ravenna coaching staff.
Wilde said it means “everything” to her to share these moments with her dad, a detail-oriented person who has a knack for spotting the finer things.
“When I came off the field for halftime (April 15 at Fremont), he came up to me and he said, ‘You have one (save) left. You need one more save (to reach 530).’ He’s really good at finding four-leaf clovers and he found two of them and we put one in each glove for good luck,” she said with a big smile.
During that milestone game at Fremont, a rainbow appeared overhead during the first half, which also brought joy to Wilde. As with her father, the little things matter to her.
Wilde is eager to take the next step when she heads to SVSU and tests herself at the collegiate level, both academically and athletically. However, this time in her life means the world to her.
“I met with some of the players (at SVSU) through ID camps and stuff and they are so kind and they’re really helpful with any questions I had. The coaches are really nice and I really like their program,” Wilde said. “I like that it’s going to push me and I’m going to reach new levels through their program. That’s what I’m really looking forward to is just being able to push
myself and take that next step and just the competition and competing. I love that.
“I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to do this (at Ravenna) and I could not have gotten here without my family and all of their encouragement.”
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