Fischer's successful plan works at Willows
Sophomore star's path provides blueprint for young players
By Gary Larsen
As Willows Academy’s new head coach this year, Leah Kartsimas got the first look at her new team in a gymnasium during the preseason. She saw some things from one player in particular that stood out.
“I saw the way she kind of commanded the middle of the field and even inside a gym the way she was able to control the ball and talk to the girls and find the holes,” Kartsimas said. “Someone who can control a soccer ball inside a gym like that is somebody you really look at."
That player was sophomore Ashleigh Fischer, a central midfielder now helping to steer the attacking ship for the 11-5-0 Eagles.
She does it with a poise that belies her age.
“She's cool as a cucumber,” Willows athletic director Paul Chanan said. “She is basically stable throughout, no matter the situation. She's just cool. She's aggressive but never anxious.”
That composure is an extension of Fischer's personality away from the game. "Off the field she's a very relaxed kid and kind of goes with the flow," Kartsimas said. "But she's also very competitive."
Fischer admits to playing with an edge that doesn't always jibe with her laid-back vibe. "On the field, I kind of become another person," she said. "(My competitive fire) can get triggered very fast."
With 14 goals and 11 assists in 16 games, including two game-winning goals, Fischer has more than lived up to the promise she showed the first time Kartsimas laid eyes on her.
But then, Fischer has had a lot of practice.
“I started playing when I was two in park district (soccer),” Fischer said, “but I didn’t start playing club seasons until I was seven.” Fischer also plays for FC-1 and participates in the Olympic Development Program.
A 16-year-old with 14 years of soccer experience? If the image of a burned-out high school athlete comes to mind, discard it. Because Fischer could be a poster child for how players can avoid being swallowed up and spit out by a sport.
First, Fischer has played all over the pitch. In fact, while her smoothness, skill, and strong leg help her shine in the attack, she’s just as comfortable playing central defender.
A few years back, her role on the field nearly took a drastically different path.
“I think I was nine or 10 and our goalie got hit in the face with a ball,” Fischer said. “We didn't have any other goalies, so my coach asked if anyone wanted to play goalie, and I raised my hand.”
The experiment lasted long enough for the lanky and athletic Fischer to prove her potential bona fides as a keeper, and all these years later she’s still a backup keeper on her club team.
What a 10-year-old Fischer couldn’t know when she volunteered to play in net that day was that she was about to make herself a better player.
We live in an era of specialization in sports and even further specialization within a given sport. Many year-round club players are locked in as outside mids, or central defenders, and never play anywhere else on the field.
Any parents of young future soccer players reading this story should lean in and pay special attention, because Fischer wouldn’t trade her time spent as a goalkeeper for anything.
“As a goalie you see the whole field,” she said. “So you see where the openings are, or where to switch the field, or when to pass and not to pass. Being a goalie definitely helped me as a field player.”
Kartsimas laughed when reminded of Fischer’s goalkeeping past.
“It seems crazy that someone would put her in goal,” Kartsimas said, “but when you know another position, it definitely helps your understanding of the game.
“We talk about the mental side of the game and knowing where you want to go three or four steps ahead, and she pretty much has that. She knows where the ball should go and where everyone is so she can find them.”
Fischer has also played forward at Willows, whenever Kartsimas feels like the Eagles need a little extra scoring punch during a given game. So during 14 formative years as a player, Fischer has learned to play nearly every position on the field.
Such variety is a valuable tool against burnout, but there’s another aspect to Fischer that helps her avoid growing tired of soccer: she played volleyball her freshman year at Willows; and this past winter she played basketball for the Eagles.
Parents, it’s time to lean in again.
“Basketball is the kind of sport that keeps me in shape during the winter,” Fischer said. “I've played soccer my whole life, all year long. Once I started at Willows Academy, I stopped during the winter.
“It definitely made my body feel good, and it was nice to get a break from soccer, because it wasn’t 24-7, go-go-go. It was more like a couple months off to rest, and it also makes me enjoy soccer more.”
Fischer will have college programs pursuing her next year. They might find her in back, at midfield, or up-top if they come calling at Willows, or find her playing backup keeper in a club game. And if they call during the winter, she might be busy playing in a basketball game for the Eagles.
Whichever college gets her will enjoy an all-around skilled player with a well-rounded approach that has served her well at Willows.
"We're a small school, so we don't see a lot of D-I talent come through," Chanan said of Fischer. "But she's definitely D-I talent."
Sophomore star's path provides blueprint for young players
By Gary Larsen
As Willows Academy’s new head coach this year, Leah Kartsimas got the first look at her new team in a gymnasium during the preseason. She saw some things from one player in particular that stood out.
“I saw the way she kind of commanded the middle of the field and even inside a gym the way she was able to control the ball and talk to the girls and find the holes,” Kartsimas said. “Someone who can control a soccer ball inside a gym like that is somebody you really look at."
That player was sophomore Ashleigh Fischer, a central midfielder now helping to steer the attacking ship for the 11-5-0 Eagles.
She does it with a poise that belies her age.
“She's cool as a cucumber,” Willows athletic director Paul Chanan said. “She is basically stable throughout, no matter the situation. She's just cool. She's aggressive but never anxious.”
That composure is an extension of Fischer's personality away from the game. "Off the field she's a very relaxed kid and kind of goes with the flow," Kartsimas said. "But she's also very competitive."
Fischer admits to playing with an edge that doesn't always jibe with her laid-back vibe. "On the field, I kind of become another person," she said. "(My competitive fire) can get triggered very fast."
With 14 goals and 11 assists in 16 games, including two game-winning goals, Fischer has more than lived up to the promise she showed the first time Kartsimas laid eyes on her.
But then, Fischer has had a lot of practice.
“I started playing when I was two in park district (soccer),” Fischer said, “but I didn’t start playing club seasons until I was seven.” Fischer also plays for FC-1 and participates in the Olympic Development Program.
A 16-year-old with 14 years of soccer experience? If the image of a burned-out high school athlete comes to mind, discard it. Because Fischer could be a poster child for how players can avoid being swallowed up and spit out by a sport.
First, Fischer has played all over the pitch. In fact, while her smoothness, skill, and strong leg help her shine in the attack, she’s just as comfortable playing central defender.
A few years back, her role on the field nearly took a drastically different path.
“I think I was nine or 10 and our goalie got hit in the face with a ball,” Fischer said. “We didn't have any other goalies, so my coach asked if anyone wanted to play goalie, and I raised my hand.”
The experiment lasted long enough for the lanky and athletic Fischer to prove her potential bona fides as a keeper, and all these years later she’s still a backup keeper on her club team.
What a 10-year-old Fischer couldn’t know when she volunteered to play in net that day was that she was about to make herself a better player.
We live in an era of specialization in sports and even further specialization within a given sport. Many year-round club players are locked in as outside mids, or central defenders, and never play anywhere else on the field.
Any parents of young future soccer players reading this story should lean in and pay special attention, because Fischer wouldn’t trade her time spent as a goalkeeper for anything.
“As a goalie you see the whole field,” she said. “So you see where the openings are, or where to switch the field, or when to pass and not to pass. Being a goalie definitely helped me as a field player.”
Kartsimas laughed when reminded of Fischer’s goalkeeping past.
“It seems crazy that someone would put her in goal,” Kartsimas said, “but when you know another position, it definitely helps your understanding of the game.
“We talk about the mental side of the game and knowing where you want to go three or four steps ahead, and she pretty much has that. She knows where the ball should go and where everyone is so she can find them.”
Fischer has also played forward at Willows, whenever Kartsimas feels like the Eagles need a little extra scoring punch during a given game. So during 14 formative years as a player, Fischer has learned to play nearly every position on the field.
Such variety is a valuable tool against burnout, but there’s another aspect to Fischer that helps her avoid growing tired of soccer: she played volleyball her freshman year at Willows; and this past winter she played basketball for the Eagles.
Parents, it’s time to lean in again.
“Basketball is the kind of sport that keeps me in shape during the winter,” Fischer said. “I've played soccer my whole life, all year long. Once I started at Willows Academy, I stopped during the winter.
“It definitely made my body feel good, and it was nice to get a break from soccer, because it wasn’t 24-7, go-go-go. It was more like a couple months off to rest, and it also makes me enjoy soccer more.”
Fischer will have college programs pursuing her next year. They might find her in back, at midfield, or up-top if they come calling at Willows, or find her playing backup keeper in a club game. And if they call during the winter, she might be busy playing in a basketball game for the Eagles.
Whichever college gets her will enjoy an all-around skilled player with a well-rounded approach that has served her well at Willows.
"We're a small school, so we don't see a lot of D-I talent come through," Chanan said of Fischer. "But she's definitely D-I talent."