Sophomore Natalie Daskal recalls looking down at her blue and white jersey, stained with dirt and grass, scars of a hard fought game that did not end the way she had dreamed it might–-with a winning goal lifting her team to victory. “I don’t cry often,” Daskal said when reflecting on the 2017 season, “but I sobbed the whole ride home from our loss in Sectionals last year.” Daskal takes soccer seriously, especially when playing in her Colonels uniform.

Daskal began her soccer career in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, playing AYSO when she was just five years old. David Daskal, her father, was her first coach, devoting his time to train new soccer players and introduce his daughter to a sport he thought she would love. “It was a fun and laid-back way to get a sense of the sport,” Daskal said, “ and to explore what it felt like to play on a team.”

At the beginning of her athletic career, Daskal did not limit herself to soccer. She tried basketball, gymnastics, and softball.

Daskal demonstrated particular proficiency in gymnastics—even being promoted to a more advanced team when she was just seven. After the first work-out with the new team, however, she knew gymnastics was not for her. She found the practice difficult and stressful, she did not enjoy practicing with older kids, and she had a hard time with the amount of running the practice entailed.

Daskal quit gymnastics, and used the extra time to invest herself more deeply in soccer with her AYSO team. She trained to play her best soccer during the season.  She practiced to develop her skills in the offseason.

During the summer, Daskal practiced dribbling in her backyard every day. She frequently tripped over the ball, and found herself face-planted in the grass. “If you’re not failing,”  Daskal said, “you’re not trying hard enough.” During her current team practices, Daskal can be found darting around and in between cones, sweat dripping from her face.

When she scrimmages, she is just as intense. She sprints from player to player, sliding into the mud in order to steal the ball. As she shoots, her foot is a blur, moving so quickly that if you blink you might miss it.

Something Daskal has been focusing on since last season is working with her teammates. In this scrimmage, although she may be dribbling towards the goal, she is surveying the field, looking for open teammates.

When Daskal was eight, she was approached by a coach after an AYSO game about trying out for the AYSO travel team, Northwind. The club was new and small, and Daskal was unsure whether she would try out. She and her best friend tried out for the team together, but only Daskal was offered a spot. After a few sleepless nights worrying about her friend’s feelings, Daskal decided she would join Northwind. “It was a really hard decision,” Daskal said, “but one that changed my life forever.”

Daskal played on Northwind for a few years before transitioning to a new team that many of her teammates were joining, Chicago Premier Soccer Club. Eventually, that new team disbanded, and Daskal looked for another new team. She joined the travel club known as Chicago City for the 2016-17 season, before making yet another change for the current season to FC United, based in Glenview, Illinois.

According to Daskal, the aspect of soccer that really defines the overall experience of the players is the coaching staff. “I always had ups and downs in my soccer career,” Daskal said. “What really impacted those times were the coaches who trained me.”

Today Daskal loves soccer more than she ever has. Daskal said, “Being able to play for my school’s soccer team has significantly amplified my love for the sport.”

If you ask Daskal to compare her soccer experiences, she will tell you that she plays club soccer to improve her technical skills. But, Daskal says, she plays school soccer because she enjoys playing and bonding with her schoolmates.

When she plays club soccer, she plays for herself. She works to enhance her own skills, and to get recognition as an individual soccer player. But when she plays Parker soccer, she is playing for the community.

Daskal’s teammates recognize the difference in her play and appreciate that she is putting her team first and working hard with others who have the same goal. “When I played with Natalie on Chicago City, it was much different than playing with her at school,” sophomore Senna Gardner, who played on Chicago City and is currently playing Parker soccer with Daskal, said. “On the Parker team, she plays much more selflessly.”

Daskal’s main soccer goal for the future is to win a state title with the Parker team. “Every day I practice,” Daskal said, “and all I think about is hoisting the state trophy above my head with my Parker soccer teammates.” She has put aside her individual goals to focus on helping the team win the state tournament.

Neil Curran, Daskal’s Parker soccer coach, recognizes her value. “Natalie is an outstanding player who has committed to being one of the best players Parker has produced,” Curran said. “She learned a lot freshman year, and I have complete faith she will put that dedication into practice this upcoming season.”

Daskal’s advisor Jeanne Barr marvels at her passion. “I know she is very invested in both out-of-school and in-school soccer,” Barr said. “It’s a priority for her, and she seems very dedicated to winning a state title.”

Last year Daskal was devastated when Parker lost their sectional game.“We weren’t playing well from the beginning,” Daskal said, “and we weren’t confident.” She began crying at half because she was upset with how the team was playing collectively. She was disappointed not only because she fell short of accomplishing her goal of winning a state title, but also because she knew she would never play again with the graduating seniors. And she wouldn’t play school soccer for eight months.

Although the loss at the end of the season depressed Daskal, it also motivated her. “I knew I didn’t want to have any regrets at the end of high school,” Daskal said. “I want to leave Parker making an impact on the soccer program.” Ever since that loss, she has been practicing and getting ready for the start of this soccer season.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Daskal. She is not set on playing college soccer at the varsity level, but definitely intends to continue to participate in the sport. “The colleges where I could play soccer are not at the academic level I want for myself,” Daskal said, “but I will play club soccer for sure wherever I go to college.”

Daskal’s adrenaline has been building in anticipation for the Monday Parker gets back from April break–the start of the soccer season. “Not only am I excited to win a state title,” Daskal said, “I am also eager to play with my school teammates once again.”