A years-long process for Riley Friesen recently came to a celebratory conclusion.
Friesen, a senior soccer player at Athens Academy, signed to continue her soccer career at The College of William & Mary, located in Williamsburg, Virginia.
She officially signed her required forms to accept a scholarship to William & Mary back on Nov. 16. Last Wednesday, Dec. 16, she was formally recognized in a large ceremony held at Athens Academy.
Friesen and her family were presented to the crowd and recognized by Athens Academy athletic director Kevin Petroski.
Even though she already had the formalities out of the way before the ceremony, Friesen said she was happy to have her teammates, peers and family members join her to celebrate her milestone achievement.
“It feels really good,” Friesen said. “I signed a while back on Nov. 16 but it's been really good. I've been committed for a while but it's been really nice to kind of see it all come to fruition. It's really cool, especially being surrounded by friends and family.”
The prospects of playing soccer at the collegiate level were in play for Friesen for several years. It was something she thought about for a long time.
After she became a freshman at Athens Academy, Friesen began actively seeking out potential opportunities to continue her soccer career after high school.
“I've kind of always wanted to play college soccer; I just kind of expected it,” Friesen said. “My process of really trying to figure it out really started freshman year. My dad took me to a lot of different colleges and stuff just trying to figure it out.”
That process took up a lot of Friesen’s time but there is a chance it helped her avoid a feared reality that is being experienced by prospective college athletes nationwide this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic had drastic effects on the college sports landscape at all levels. One major development saw the NCAA grant extended eligibility to student-athletes across most sports.
The consequence of that particular rule change meant that many high school seniors had scholarship offers pulled.
Friesen said the fact she searched for a college program – and ultimately committed to William & Mary – from such an early stage put her in position to keep her scholarship.
“I've been super fortunate to not get caught up in all the COVID stuff,” Friesen said. “Everyone's getting money taken away but, thankfully, I've been lucky enough (to keep the scholarship). I committed early enough.”
Friesen said she was previously torn between joining the team at William & Mary or staying nearby to play at Georgia.
In the end, William & Mary offered enough special aspects to convince Friesen to leave home.
“Both of the coaches there, the head and the assistant, went to William and Mary and played college soccer there. I think that's really cool that they went there,” Friesen said. “And also, it's just a different environment. I wanted to be farther away from home and it was a smaller school and I just felt more at home there.”
Friesen is undecided on what she will study at William & Mary. She said he is leaning toward doing something related to business.
Her on-field aspirations are pretty well set, though.
“I would love to be able to play freshman year,” Friesen said. “I don't know if I'll start but I'll definitely try to come off the bench. I'm kind of working into a new position but we'll see what happens.”
No matter what it takes to reach success at the next level, Friesen said she is ready to meet the challenges of playing in college head-on.
“I was pretty excited but I'm also nervous,” Friesen said regarding her emotions when signing her scholarship forms. “My dad always told me, 'You've worked hard this far but you've still got four more years.' I've got to work even harder. It's gonna be a good experience. I'm really excited.”
