Glenbrook North alum, Yale freshman goalkeeper Annie Welch gets the nod on Opening Day
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — Starting as a freshman at the collegiate level is difficult no matter the level or circumstances. When you throw in being the starter on Opening Day of your true freshman season at possibly the most difficult position in your sport? That has to be terrifying.
It’s what Glenbrook North alumna Annie Welch faced this past fall in her first season as a freshman goalkeeper on the Yale women’s soccer team. The first-year player from Northbrook not only got the nod on Opening Day, but the game would eventually go into overtime.
“I obviously was not expecting that either coming in,” she said. “My teammates had a few injuries that kind of put me in that position where I had to start on our opening day, but I was very lucky to have that opportunity as a freshman.
“You’re not typically expecting to start as a freshman or even for year sophomore year as a goalkeeper. It gave me a lot of beneficial experience that helped me grow as a player very quickly and adjust to the college pace. So I think that was really helpful in my development. Just getting thrown in there and adjusting and getting put in the mix was really helpful because I got that in game experience.”
Luckily for Welch, the other two Yale keepers were experienced collegiate players who had each played in a number of games in previous seasons. So those two, as well as some of her other older teammates were able to help her get through not only the beginning of the year, but also the end of it after her teammates returned from injury.
“I learned a lot, especially from my center backs and my older teammates, just to stay calm and composed,” Welch said. “Often you would be in a very stressful situation, like facing crazy shots from outside the box or even from inside the box. And sometimes we are just being exposed to a lot of dangerous pressure that I wasn’t exactly sure at all times how to deal with. And my teammates were really there for me by helping me stay calm and composed, just take a breath and make the right decision.”
Another thing that helped Welch this season was familiarity.
In addition to Welch, there are two other Illinois natives on the Yale roster, Loyola alumna Meredith Phillips and Barrington alumna Tina Teik. Despite being first-year players eligibility-wise thanks to the pandemic, both Teik and Phillips had already been at Yale for one season and were able to help Welch learn the ropes and how to be a student-athlete at one of the country’s top academic institutions.
“That was super helpful for me because I am pretty close with Meredith and Tina and I grew up playing with Tina,” Welch said. I kind of got to walk in already knowing some people. And knowing them from home is completely different from knowing them from school. Just having them already there, accustomed to the environment and enjoying themselves at school, it was really reassuring that I was going to a place where I would find like a level of comfort that they found and that I would be able to have some people I know to help me kind of transition into college life.”
Welch only played one year of high school soccer at Glenbrook North, coming over after playing for her club team’s developmental academy squad her first three years.
In club soccer, if a player played for a club’s academy team, in most cases they weren’t eligible to play for their high school squad. So since Welch played for FC United’s Academy team, she couldn’t play for Glenbrook North.
That changed in her senior year though, when she decided to play for the Spartans before she would walk across the stage as a graduate.
“It was very meaningful for me because I had a few best friends who I met through soccer and I got to play with them for one final year,” she said. “Having senior night together was really special. My teammates made the whole season for me super special, even though I hadn’t been on the team in prior years, I got to be a captain alongside some fantastic players who I’ve known for years.
“For me to have the team kind of support me even only being there for a year being able to play with those girls that I had been playing with growing up, one final time was really special and to even represent my high school in a way I haven’t really done. That, more than anything, was pretty special for me.”
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