Former Naperville Soccer Association teammates scattered, but retain bond
By Chris Walker
Maddie Raftery only played a single season of high school soccer during her time at Downers Grove South, but in her debut home game in March, 2019, she saw the familiar, friendly face of Oswego East’s Allison Adams.
The two former teammates of the Naperville Soccer Association (NSA) Twisters hadn’t seen one another in a while, but there they were battling head to head in different uniforms. However any bragging rights went out the window as the Mustangs and Wolves battled to a 1-1 draw.
“That was totally fun,” Raftery said. “It had been a while since I’d seen her, and she’s a great person, super nice, and a very good soccer player.”
Adams and Raftery are among an extremely talented group of athletes who were not only blessed with success on the club circuit while playing for NSA, but in establishing wonderful friendships at that time, many which remain strong today.
That group included such notable former high school players/graduates as Charlotte Ives (Metea Valley), Katie Murphy and Paige Sylvester (Naperville North), Mia Ullmer (Benet), Sophie Lindqust (Wheaton Academy) and Jenna Dominguez (Geneva).
It also featured current high school seniors Hannah Bradley-Leon (Naperville Central), Alondra Carranza (St. Charles East), Hailey Flannagan (Batavia), Kate Flynn (Benet), Jordan Rose (Downers Grove South) and Sarah Scoles (Naperville Central) along with Adams and Raftery, as well as juniors Amy Alexander (Wheaton Academy) and Becca Hauenstein (Wheaton Warrenville South).
“This was a great group of girls, and we really were like best friends,” Flynn said. “I still talk to a bunch of them, and we’ll show up to each other’s high school games which can be a super fun time. We had great relationships with each other and the coaches, and we were very successful. It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in club.”
It was Bradley-Leon’s grandfather, Jeff Bradley, who co-founded the NSA. Her parents, Sarah Bradley and Ed Leon, spent many years operating the NSA and coaching. Their doings have done a ton for granddaughter/daughter Hannah Bradley-Leon. They certainly laid the foundation, which she used to pave her way to Illinois State while having a place to call home to learn the game and meet great friends.
“It really was like a family there, and everyone just loved each other,” she said. “Everyone got along and it was so close that it made it special. And that made it better on the field. Having those friendships and connections helped us play better on the field together.”
Values were instilled early on and have made a lasting impression.
“Definitely something that brought us together were the coaches, and Greg Muhr doesn’t coach for NSA any more but he recently reached out and asked how I was doing,” Alexander said. “I first knew him as a coach when I was in fifth grade. It’s beyond the game, and I was taught to put in all your effort. I was instilled in the motto to love the game.”
The last time Alexander walked off a field, if it happened, took place before her time in the program.
“When I was younger, coaches would tell us to make sure we jogged off the field, and I’ve made sure to do it every time,” she said. “The same thing when we’re going to get water, and we always pick up all our bags and never leave anything behind. Sometimes there’s a hard tackle and maybe a foul on you, and we help the girl back up. I learned how to be good teammate and how to play the game the right away so I thank Greg Muhr a lot for doing that when we were so young.”
You can surf the web and find many different travel soccer clubs and read about their respective mission, vision and values about what they offer with regard to developing talent, achieving success, instilling a sense of belonging and preparing these kids so they can reach their highest potential. But these clubs aren’t in the business of making teammates into BFFs. Certainly, relationships are required, but anyone who has followed sports over the years knows that just because the uniforms are the same doesn’t mean those donning them are like two peas in a pod.
What about Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole?
Remember Kobe and Shaq?
How about ARod And Derek Jeter?
Thankfully with this group, the kids were able to make friends while also honing their soccer skills, learning how to be a teammate, sportsmanship, etc.
“Honestly, one of the best part of the game is friends,” Alexander said. “I’ve been on a lot of club teams when I didn’t have any friends on the team, and it was really hard to keep going. I definitely love to have fun. I think having those relationships where you’re really competitive on the field and off the field and are just good friends is important. You get to challenge each other in a good way.”
The majority of these girls spent at least four years with NSA, learning a lot about the game, each other, and the other girls around them. Stick around someone long enough and the way they brush their teeth or chew their food might throw them over the edge. Fortunately, these girls really enjoyed each other’s company off the field as well as defending each other on it.
“If you think about it, those years, especially in about seventh grade and into high school, you’re going on a lot of soccer trips and playing in multiple showcases,” Rose said. “When you add those up, that’s a lot of trips to go on in five or six years. We spent a lot of time together. We vacationed a few times a year. It also sort of felt like we were all together during the transitions in life, from junior high to high school I felt like we grew up together. The timing we all met was just right. I can’t explain it, but we’re so close.”
Rose acknowledged that she didn’t know anyone when she joined NSA while in seventh grade, but instantly felt welcome. She left with lifelong friends.
“As soon as I got there everyone was super nice, and I don’t remember not knowing everybody,” she said. “Even though it was just my first day, I felt like I knew everyone. And over that first year we all became sisters and loved each other. I’ve never been a part of a team so close. I made amazing friends and still talk to all of them at some high school events and some I talk to on a daily basis.”
Since Rose and her NSA teammates were from all over the suburbs, one could’ve anticipated that the girls would latch on to new interests, their high school team or another club and forget about their old friends, but it’s been anything but that for Rose.
“It’s kind of interesting because on that team if you left as a freshman, you were pretty young and usually when you leave a young group you don’t usually stay in touch,” Rose said. “Sometimes I’ll go six months to a year without talking to one of them and then I’ll see them, and it’ll be just like we were hanging out yesterday.”
One of Alexander’s favorite moments of the high school season is the annual opening day of the PepsiCo Showdown. It’s a fun day where she usually crosses paths with her former NSA teammates.
“During the season there is so much going on with the high school team so it is nice when you get to check in and talk to everyone about how things are going,” she said. “Every high school season is different but usually the PepsiCo is a lot of fun. I’ll run into people who are also wandering around out there.”
The annual Naperville Invitational tournament not only brings together many of the top teams in the state for a bit of a “what’s to come in the state series” event, but also countless players who often are reacquainted with former teammates.
“I’ve always been super excited with the Naperville Invitational to be able to catch up with old friends,” Scoles said. “I’m still very close to Kate Flynn and Maddie Raftery and Jordan Rose, so that’s very cool. A lot has happened since then, but we did spend a lot of time together so it’s always nice to see how things have changed and what’s new.”
A lot certainly has changed since those years in the NSA. You can’t forget that most of these kids are now just a few months away from going off to college while some have already begun that new chapter in their lives. When they all were last playing together they were just heading off to high school. What was fun and important at ages 11 and 12 may seem silly at 17 or 18. From My Little Pony to my time to graduate, celebrate and begin having a great time in college.
“We knew how to have fun,” Scoles said. “We went to San Diego over Thanksgiving. They had a stage two drought, but we got hailed on. All of the parking lots were flooded and our next game was canceled. Here we were expecting perfect weather, and it’s hailing on us.”
A quick change in plans led to the girls lacing up their boots, or whatever they packed with them, to go hiking. Since they didn’t pack rain gear, they got inventive and found some Hefty trash bags. Now they have lasting memories along with some hilarious photos to look back on. It’s moments like these that having great friends along for the journey made even more enjoyable and memorable.
“Since our games were cancelled we decided to go hiking on a mini mountain,” Scoles said. “And the funny part was it was still raining, but we still decided to go so we made our own cover-ups. Since we didn’t have ponchos we used garbage bags so we’ve got a lot of funny pictures of us in garbage bags and a lot of other stuff like that. It was pretty fun.”
Flynn recalls a team trip to Disney in Florida one December that ended up being her last trip with these girls.
“It was kind of a big hurrah, which I didn’t know at the time,” she said. “It was before the first high school season, and I think half of us played in high school and the other half stayed. It was super fun. I remember that trip with all the girls and our coach Bonnie Young driving us girls around in this big 15-passenger van.”
Unfortunately, with the shelter-in-place in April and May, a gathering among friends to reminisce, have some fun, and discuss the future is delayed, which is shame, since some of the girls have definitely enjoyed similar nights of hanging out.
“Back when we used to go out of state for tournaments we’d also have a lot of fun going out to dinner, mini golfing and other activities,” Hauenstein said. “We went to Jenna’s (Dominguez) graduation party. Some of us have gone to Six Flags together. It hasn’t just been all the soccer, it’s a super close group and we have done a lot of fun stuff together.”
Before Naperville North stunned Barrington for the Class 3A state title last year, Hauenstein sent a text to Murphy.
“I wished her good luck,” Hauenstein said. “I honestly think when we were all on the same team together we became so close, and our families did as well. Our parents have stayed close, and my perspective hasn’t changed. I haven’t been on a team where I’ve made such close friendships. We had so many similar personalities and gotten along so well together. There haven’t been any cliques. The whole team in general has always been close, and I feel like I can reach out to any of them.”
Murphy acknowledged that hearing from Hauenstein right before the Class 3A state championship game was classy. That’s a pretty awesome gesture that’s part of Murphy’s memories of winning an amazing state title game.
“I hadn’t heard from Becca in a long time so that was nice and supportive,” she said. “And even the old coaches. I heard from Greg Muhr, one of my favorite coaches. He gave me some good advice then and throughout the season. It was nice having that support with me from club season.”
Clashing spring schedules, countless teen activities at each kid’s respective school and the fact that these kids are all over the place now would make it nearly impossible to keep in tune with one another if not for technology.
If this were 30 years ago, they’d be out of luck unless they were subscribing to newspapers in the different communities and reading them in print, writing letters by hand, typewriter or a computer with a dot matrix printer (something these kids have been blessed to probably never hear or see in action) or picking up the landline phone and dialing up their buds.
“It’s cool that I’ve been able to meet so many people from club soccer and to have so many awesome teammates and friends today,” Raftery said. “I still talk to a lot of them today even though I haven’t been on a team with some of them for three or so years now. But I read about them. Most of them have played high school soccer and have done really well and it’s cool to say you have different friendships from different times.”
Perhaps when these girls went separate ways it inadvertently helped them cope with the adversity of missing out on a full soccer season, which for the majority of this group is occurring now during their senior year. It also introduced them to significant and inevitable change. New clubs, new opportunities and new experiences as well as new schools, new teammates and new challenges. While shedding the old for the new, many old friendships have persevered.
“This was the first time that I was playing on a team that was really talented and really competitive and fun,” Raftery said. “We were also really close too and while we worked hard at practice we found that nice balance so we were also super close off the field. I loved it. It was an awesome experience. Even after breaking up, some of us have still stayed and played together, and there have been no hard feelings. We’ve been able to stay friends.”
A couple players were seemingly born into friendships. They don’t remember first meeting because they were too young as babies to remember those initial encounters. Soon they’ll be college teammates.
Carranza and Dominguez had known each other well before their time in NSA, and while they had their share of battles on rival conference teams each spring, now they’re going to be teammates at St. Cloud State, where Dominguez is coming off a freshman season where she ranked second on the team with five goals and 15 points while leading the team with five assists as well as with four game-winning goals.
“Our parents are friends and we’ve lived close to each other so we’ve known each other since we were babies,” Carranza said. “So our parents are also friends so it’s a very close-knit relationship.”
As Carranza was navigating through the recruitment process, Dominguez had a talk with Gretta Arvesen, her head coach at St. Cloud State.
“(Gretta) loved me,” Carranza said. “And it just went off from there. We started talking and soon I decided I wanted to go there. I love the coach and the team chemistry and Jenna.”
Like a best friend does, Dominguez told Carranza, “if you ever need to talk about soccer or college stuff, I’m always here, but you really should try to reach out to my coach.”
“I figured we’ve played together and known each other so long, what’s another three years with her,” Dominguez laughed. “I figured it would be totally amazing. So having a best friend come to college with you is going to be so amazing.”
If her college experience is anything like the few years she spent in the NSA, Carranza is destined for a wonderful time on and off the field with Dominguez. And now that she’s had to sit and watch her Saints team lose their spring season, she can appreciate the optimism for a new chapter in her life in Minnesota.
“I feel for my season at St. Charles East,” Carranza said. “We had a good group, and there was no tension. It’s a lot like NSA. Some teams like to have cliques and people don’t talk to each other. I know those are only two teams, but all of my teams have been super nice and without tension. I’d like to think it’s because the chemistry was there to enjoy it. We’ve enjoyed each other’s company and have had fun playing together which made everything better. With everyone talking to each other and no cliques we’ve had no problems.”
As one of the NSA alums now playing in college, Dominguez was more than happy to share her knowledge of that first-year experience. It certainly bodes well that she was coming off such a terrific first year on the playing field and adjustment to life on campus went pretty seamlessly.
“I would give them my input and answer any questions they’d ask about my experience so far as school goes,” she said. “Each school has its own questions about academics and athletics so I can only give my perspective as someone that’s a freshman. I told them whenever you have a question just give me a text. I’m always willing to answer any questions. I’m trying to become a leader on and off the field so it’s nice that these girls can come to me with any questions.”
While her focus is on helping St. Cloud win games these days, Dominguez remains interested in how her former teammates are doing, especially from the struggles that have arisen due to the spring season being shut down to their transition the girls will make as the head off to college.
“When I first went to NSA I was friends with Hannah Bradley-Leon and she was the first girl I became close with and I talk to her almost everyday,” she said. “Mackenzie Anthony (Wheaton North student only/Baylor soccer commit) and Alondra (Carranza) and Jordan Rose and Becca (Hauenstein). I’ve been pretty close with some of the Twisters and they’re all going to go out and do great things this fall. And now I’m reminded of all the great times I’ve had with Alondra and now it’s literally going to be us, best friends, side-by-side in college.”
Some of the successes during those NSA years remain especially fond for the girls who were only in the program for two or three years.
Flannagan acknowledged that some of the biggest moments in her playing career came while teaming up with these girls during her brief time in NSA. Her Batavia teammate Chloe Valentino told her about the club and the competition it offered, so she was able to secure a spot on the squad.
“The coaches were really good, and they gave me the confidence that if I kept playing soccer, I could play at a high level,” she said. “I remember we won a tournament in Phoenix in 2016, and it was also the farthest I’d been away from home so I was really proud about that. I’d say the biggest takeaway from my time with NSA with the confidence it gave me.”
While her time at NSA didn’t have the happiest of endings, she met up with some familiar teammates like Carranza and Dominguez at Campton United, while helping Batavia win a regional title last season.
“I was disappointed that we broke up, because we had a lot of potential from all different communities,” she said. “But some we’re going to play high school during their freshman year, and it kind of went from there. I still have their contacts, and we’re still friends.”
Flannagan will take her net-protection skills to the Illinois Institute of Technology while her fellow former NSA teammates who are also seniors are all heading away to play in college as well. Alexander and Hauenstein haven’t figured out their post-high school plans, but both likely will find a future home and soccer will play a key role in their respective decision-making.
It’s not really surprising that they’re all moving on to the next level, if they haven’t already. Most have also served in a captain role during their high school years at some point, including the odd, unprecedented 2020 spring season.
“I think even back then we knew that everyone on the team had talent and drive and the potential to play in college,” Bradley-Leon said. “I think we knew with the amount of talent we had that if this was something any of us wanted to pursue, we should go for it.”
And it’s certainly gone well for these teens.
“That was a special time,” she added. I’m thankful to have been a part of it and to have all those memories.”
By Chris Walker
Maddie Raftery only played a single season of high school soccer during her time at Downers Grove South, but in her debut home game in March, 2019, she saw the familiar, friendly face of Oswego East’s Allison Adams.
The two former teammates of the Naperville Soccer Association (NSA) Twisters hadn’t seen one another in a while, but there they were battling head to head in different uniforms. However any bragging rights went out the window as the Mustangs and Wolves battled to a 1-1 draw.
“That was totally fun,” Raftery said. “It had been a while since I’d seen her, and she’s a great person, super nice, and a very good soccer player.”
Adams and Raftery are among an extremely talented group of athletes who were not only blessed with success on the club circuit while playing for NSA, but in establishing wonderful friendships at that time, many which remain strong today.
That group included such notable former high school players/graduates as Charlotte Ives (Metea Valley), Katie Murphy and Paige Sylvester (Naperville North), Mia Ullmer (Benet), Sophie Lindqust (Wheaton Academy) and Jenna Dominguez (Geneva).
It also featured current high school seniors Hannah Bradley-Leon (Naperville Central), Alondra Carranza (St. Charles East), Hailey Flannagan (Batavia), Kate Flynn (Benet), Jordan Rose (Downers Grove South) and Sarah Scoles (Naperville Central) along with Adams and Raftery, as well as juniors Amy Alexander (Wheaton Academy) and Becca Hauenstein (Wheaton Warrenville South).
“This was a great group of girls, and we really were like best friends,” Flynn said. “I still talk to a bunch of them, and we’ll show up to each other’s high school games which can be a super fun time. We had great relationships with each other and the coaches, and we were very successful. It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in club.”
It was Bradley-Leon’s grandfather, Jeff Bradley, who co-founded the NSA. Her parents, Sarah Bradley and Ed Leon, spent many years operating the NSA and coaching. Their doings have done a ton for granddaughter/daughter Hannah Bradley-Leon. They certainly laid the foundation, which she used to pave her way to Illinois State while having a place to call home to learn the game and meet great friends.
“It really was like a family there, and everyone just loved each other,” she said. “Everyone got along and it was so close that it made it special. And that made it better on the field. Having those friendships and connections helped us play better on the field together.”
Values were instilled early on and have made a lasting impression.
“Definitely something that brought us together were the coaches, and Greg Muhr doesn’t coach for NSA any more but he recently reached out and asked how I was doing,” Alexander said. “I first knew him as a coach when I was in fifth grade. It’s beyond the game, and I was taught to put in all your effort. I was instilled in the motto to love the game.”
The last time Alexander walked off a field, if it happened, took place before her time in the program.
“When I was younger, coaches would tell us to make sure we jogged off the field, and I’ve made sure to do it every time,” she said. “The same thing when we’re going to get water, and we always pick up all our bags and never leave anything behind. Sometimes there’s a hard tackle and maybe a foul on you, and we help the girl back up. I learned how to be good teammate and how to play the game the right away so I thank Greg Muhr a lot for doing that when we were so young.”
You can surf the web and find many different travel soccer clubs and read about their respective mission, vision and values about what they offer with regard to developing talent, achieving success, instilling a sense of belonging and preparing these kids so they can reach their highest potential. But these clubs aren’t in the business of making teammates into BFFs. Certainly, relationships are required, but anyone who has followed sports over the years knows that just because the uniforms are the same doesn’t mean those donning them are like two peas in a pod.
What about Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole?
Remember Kobe and Shaq?
How about ARod And Derek Jeter?
Thankfully with this group, the kids were able to make friends while also honing their soccer skills, learning how to be a teammate, sportsmanship, etc.
“Honestly, one of the best part of the game is friends,” Alexander said. “I’ve been on a lot of club teams when I didn’t have any friends on the team, and it was really hard to keep going. I definitely love to have fun. I think having those relationships where you’re really competitive on the field and off the field and are just good friends is important. You get to challenge each other in a good way.”
The majority of these girls spent at least four years with NSA, learning a lot about the game, each other, and the other girls around them. Stick around someone long enough and the way they brush their teeth or chew their food might throw them over the edge. Fortunately, these girls really enjoyed each other’s company off the field as well as defending each other on it.
“If you think about it, those years, especially in about seventh grade and into high school, you’re going on a lot of soccer trips and playing in multiple showcases,” Rose said. “When you add those up, that’s a lot of trips to go on in five or six years. We spent a lot of time together. We vacationed a few times a year. It also sort of felt like we were all together during the transitions in life, from junior high to high school I felt like we grew up together. The timing we all met was just right. I can’t explain it, but we’re so close.”
Rose acknowledged that she didn’t know anyone when she joined NSA while in seventh grade, but instantly felt welcome. She left with lifelong friends.
“As soon as I got there everyone was super nice, and I don’t remember not knowing everybody,” she said. “Even though it was just my first day, I felt like I knew everyone. And over that first year we all became sisters and loved each other. I’ve never been a part of a team so close. I made amazing friends and still talk to all of them at some high school events and some I talk to on a daily basis.”
Since Rose and her NSA teammates were from all over the suburbs, one could’ve anticipated that the girls would latch on to new interests, their high school team or another club and forget about their old friends, but it’s been anything but that for Rose.
“It’s kind of interesting because on that team if you left as a freshman, you were pretty young and usually when you leave a young group you don’t usually stay in touch,” Rose said. “Sometimes I’ll go six months to a year without talking to one of them and then I’ll see them, and it’ll be just like we were hanging out yesterday.”
One of Alexander’s favorite moments of the high school season is the annual opening day of the PepsiCo Showdown. It’s a fun day where she usually crosses paths with her former NSA teammates.
“During the season there is so much going on with the high school team so it is nice when you get to check in and talk to everyone about how things are going,” she said. “Every high school season is different but usually the PepsiCo is a lot of fun. I’ll run into people who are also wandering around out there.”
The annual Naperville Invitational tournament not only brings together many of the top teams in the state for a bit of a “what’s to come in the state series” event, but also countless players who often are reacquainted with former teammates.
“I’ve always been super excited with the Naperville Invitational to be able to catch up with old friends,” Scoles said. “I’m still very close to Kate Flynn and Maddie Raftery and Jordan Rose, so that’s very cool. A lot has happened since then, but we did spend a lot of time together so it’s always nice to see how things have changed and what’s new.”
A lot certainly has changed since those years in the NSA. You can’t forget that most of these kids are now just a few months away from going off to college while some have already begun that new chapter in their lives. When they all were last playing together they were just heading off to high school. What was fun and important at ages 11 and 12 may seem silly at 17 or 18. From My Little Pony to my time to graduate, celebrate and begin having a great time in college.
“We knew how to have fun,” Scoles said. “We went to San Diego over Thanksgiving. They had a stage two drought, but we got hailed on. All of the parking lots were flooded and our next game was canceled. Here we were expecting perfect weather, and it’s hailing on us.”
A quick change in plans led to the girls lacing up their boots, or whatever they packed with them, to go hiking. Since they didn’t pack rain gear, they got inventive and found some Hefty trash bags. Now they have lasting memories along with some hilarious photos to look back on. It’s moments like these that having great friends along for the journey made even more enjoyable and memorable.
“Since our games were cancelled we decided to go hiking on a mini mountain,” Scoles said. “And the funny part was it was still raining, but we still decided to go so we made our own cover-ups. Since we didn’t have ponchos we used garbage bags so we’ve got a lot of funny pictures of us in garbage bags and a lot of other stuff like that. It was pretty fun.”
Flynn recalls a team trip to Disney in Florida one December that ended up being her last trip with these girls.
“It was kind of a big hurrah, which I didn’t know at the time,” she said. “It was before the first high school season, and I think half of us played in high school and the other half stayed. It was super fun. I remember that trip with all the girls and our coach Bonnie Young driving us girls around in this big 15-passenger van.”
Unfortunately, with the shelter-in-place in April and May, a gathering among friends to reminisce, have some fun, and discuss the future is delayed, which is shame, since some of the girls have definitely enjoyed similar nights of hanging out.
“Back when we used to go out of state for tournaments we’d also have a lot of fun going out to dinner, mini golfing and other activities,” Hauenstein said. “We went to Jenna’s (Dominguez) graduation party. Some of us have gone to Six Flags together. It hasn’t just been all the soccer, it’s a super close group and we have done a lot of fun stuff together.”
Before Naperville North stunned Barrington for the Class 3A state title last year, Hauenstein sent a text to Murphy.
“I wished her good luck,” Hauenstein said. “I honestly think when we were all on the same team together we became so close, and our families did as well. Our parents have stayed close, and my perspective hasn’t changed. I haven’t been on a team where I’ve made such close friendships. We had so many similar personalities and gotten along so well together. There haven’t been any cliques. The whole team in general has always been close, and I feel like I can reach out to any of them.”
Murphy acknowledged that hearing from Hauenstein right before the Class 3A state championship game was classy. That’s a pretty awesome gesture that’s part of Murphy’s memories of winning an amazing state title game.
“I hadn’t heard from Becca in a long time so that was nice and supportive,” she said. “And even the old coaches. I heard from Greg Muhr, one of my favorite coaches. He gave me some good advice then and throughout the season. It was nice having that support with me from club season.”
Clashing spring schedules, countless teen activities at each kid’s respective school and the fact that these kids are all over the place now would make it nearly impossible to keep in tune with one another if not for technology.
If this were 30 years ago, they’d be out of luck unless they were subscribing to newspapers in the different communities and reading them in print, writing letters by hand, typewriter or a computer with a dot matrix printer (something these kids have been blessed to probably never hear or see in action) or picking up the landline phone and dialing up their buds.
“It’s cool that I’ve been able to meet so many people from club soccer and to have so many awesome teammates and friends today,” Raftery said. “I still talk to a lot of them today even though I haven’t been on a team with some of them for three or so years now. But I read about them. Most of them have played high school soccer and have done really well and it’s cool to say you have different friendships from different times.”
Perhaps when these girls went separate ways it inadvertently helped them cope with the adversity of missing out on a full soccer season, which for the majority of this group is occurring now during their senior year. It also introduced them to significant and inevitable change. New clubs, new opportunities and new experiences as well as new schools, new teammates and new challenges. While shedding the old for the new, many old friendships have persevered.
“This was the first time that I was playing on a team that was really talented and really competitive and fun,” Raftery said. “We were also really close too and while we worked hard at practice we found that nice balance so we were also super close off the field. I loved it. It was an awesome experience. Even after breaking up, some of us have still stayed and played together, and there have been no hard feelings. We’ve been able to stay friends.”
A couple players were seemingly born into friendships. They don’t remember first meeting because they were too young as babies to remember those initial encounters. Soon they’ll be college teammates.
Carranza and Dominguez had known each other well before their time in NSA, and while they had their share of battles on rival conference teams each spring, now they’re going to be teammates at St. Cloud State, where Dominguez is coming off a freshman season where she ranked second on the team with five goals and 15 points while leading the team with five assists as well as with four game-winning goals.
“Our parents are friends and we’ve lived close to each other so we’ve known each other since we were babies,” Carranza said. “So our parents are also friends so it’s a very close-knit relationship.”
As Carranza was navigating through the recruitment process, Dominguez had a talk with Gretta Arvesen, her head coach at St. Cloud State.
“(Gretta) loved me,” Carranza said. “And it just went off from there. We started talking and soon I decided I wanted to go there. I love the coach and the team chemistry and Jenna.”
Like a best friend does, Dominguez told Carranza, “if you ever need to talk about soccer or college stuff, I’m always here, but you really should try to reach out to my coach.”
“I figured we’ve played together and known each other so long, what’s another three years with her,” Dominguez laughed. “I figured it would be totally amazing. So having a best friend come to college with you is going to be so amazing.”
If her college experience is anything like the few years she spent in the NSA, Carranza is destined for a wonderful time on and off the field with Dominguez. And now that she’s had to sit and watch her Saints team lose their spring season, she can appreciate the optimism for a new chapter in her life in Minnesota.
“I feel for my season at St. Charles East,” Carranza said. “We had a good group, and there was no tension. It’s a lot like NSA. Some teams like to have cliques and people don’t talk to each other. I know those are only two teams, but all of my teams have been super nice and without tension. I’d like to think it’s because the chemistry was there to enjoy it. We’ve enjoyed each other’s company and have had fun playing together which made everything better. With everyone talking to each other and no cliques we’ve had no problems.”
As one of the NSA alums now playing in college, Dominguez was more than happy to share her knowledge of that first-year experience. It certainly bodes well that she was coming off such a terrific first year on the playing field and adjustment to life on campus went pretty seamlessly.
“I would give them my input and answer any questions they’d ask about my experience so far as school goes,” she said. “Each school has its own questions about academics and athletics so I can only give my perspective as someone that’s a freshman. I told them whenever you have a question just give me a text. I’m always willing to answer any questions. I’m trying to become a leader on and off the field so it’s nice that these girls can come to me with any questions.”
While her focus is on helping St. Cloud win games these days, Dominguez remains interested in how her former teammates are doing, especially from the struggles that have arisen due to the spring season being shut down to their transition the girls will make as the head off to college.
“When I first went to NSA I was friends with Hannah Bradley-Leon and she was the first girl I became close with and I talk to her almost everyday,” she said. “Mackenzie Anthony (Wheaton North student only/Baylor soccer commit) and Alondra (Carranza) and Jordan Rose and Becca (Hauenstein). I’ve been pretty close with some of the Twisters and they’re all going to go out and do great things this fall. And now I’m reminded of all the great times I’ve had with Alondra and now it’s literally going to be us, best friends, side-by-side in college.”
Some of the successes during those NSA years remain especially fond for the girls who were only in the program for two or three years.
Flannagan acknowledged that some of the biggest moments in her playing career came while teaming up with these girls during her brief time in NSA. Her Batavia teammate Chloe Valentino told her about the club and the competition it offered, so she was able to secure a spot on the squad.
“The coaches were really good, and they gave me the confidence that if I kept playing soccer, I could play at a high level,” she said. “I remember we won a tournament in Phoenix in 2016, and it was also the farthest I’d been away from home so I was really proud about that. I’d say the biggest takeaway from my time with NSA with the confidence it gave me.”
While her time at NSA didn’t have the happiest of endings, she met up with some familiar teammates like Carranza and Dominguez at Campton United, while helping Batavia win a regional title last season.
“I was disappointed that we broke up, because we had a lot of potential from all different communities,” she said. “But some we’re going to play high school during their freshman year, and it kind of went from there. I still have their contacts, and we’re still friends.”
Flannagan will take her net-protection skills to the Illinois Institute of Technology while her fellow former NSA teammates who are also seniors are all heading away to play in college as well. Alexander and Hauenstein haven’t figured out their post-high school plans, but both likely will find a future home and soccer will play a key role in their respective decision-making.
It’s not really surprising that they’re all moving on to the next level, if they haven’t already. Most have also served in a captain role during their high school years at some point, including the odd, unprecedented 2020 spring season.
“I think even back then we knew that everyone on the team had talent and drive and the potential to play in college,” Bradley-Leon said. “I think we knew with the amount of talent we had that if this was something any of us wanted to pursue, we should go for it.”
And it’s certainly gone well for these teens.
“That was a special time,” she added. I’m thankful to have been a part of it and to have all those memories.”