Playing collegiate sports is any athlete’s dream; to do so requires relentless hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Senior women’s soccer player Jaden Sink possesses all of these qualities, and her hard work paid off when she committed to Miami University (Ohio) on Tuesday, November 26.
Sink’s high school soccer career started when she made the varsity soccer team her freshman year. That was also the year the current head coach, Corbin Kopetzky, took the position. At her signing, Kopetzky commented on his first impression of her at the start of her freshman season, and how she grew throughout the next years of her career.
“She’s one of the first soccer players I met after getting the head coaching job,” Kopetzky said. “I had five at a workout over the summer, and she was at that first workout, so I got to know her before school started, just through that process. And I remember little freshman Jaden coming in and getting to watch her grow as a soccer player and as a person in that leadership role as well. Getting to be her coach her whole high school career, we’ve had really high ups and really low downs, and just getting to watch how that adversity is handled and how she approaches day-to-day life inspires the people around her. It’s pretty cool.”
Throughout her time on the team, Sink has proven to be a valuable player, both on and off the field. Not only does her skill set her apart, but she is also a talented and inspirational leader who encourages her teammates to do their best. Kopetzky also commented on her skills as a leader during the singing.
“She’s been very involved in the soccer program,” Kopetzky said. “She was our captain last year. So, we’ve sat down and obviously had talks that you can’t have with everybody, just because of that leadership aspect.”
Before her junior season, Miami of Ohio wasn’t on Sink’s radar. However, when the team’s head coach reached out in January, Sink decided to give the university a visit. She went on her unofficial tour, fell in love with the school, and decided she wanted to play there a few days after that.
“Just the culture that the coach created for the team was really great,” Sink said. “And all of the girls that I met that were already on the team, they were fantastic. The campus is beautiful, and I got to tour the biology department when I went there, and I got to meet with the head of the biology department. Everything that I had there was spectacular.”
For her major, Sink plans to study biology and possibly go on to become a kinesiology therapist. Inspired by her own struggles with injuries, Sink aspires to help other athletes work through physical setbacks to get back to the sport they love. When Sink was a sophomore, she faced some injuries during the season that prevented her from playing in a few games. However, instead of giving up, Sink worked through it with the help of Coach Kopetzky and physical therapists. Kopetzky also commented on her struggles with injury.
“Jaden had a couple of bumps in the road,” Kopetzky said. “Her sophomore year, she had an injury that thankfully didn’t end up being as serious as it could have been. So, we got to see her go through that process. Actually, there she missed the last four or five games of the season at that point because of an injury. So fortunately, that was a one-time deal, and I hope she makes it through the rest of her athletic career without having to go through it again.”
For the remainder of her senior year and last high school season, Sink hopes to continue having fun and playing with the girls on the team. When asked what she hopes the girls will continue doing once she leaves, she left this message.
“I hope they just keep close, keep working together every day, because last year so much of our success came from everybody showing up to work every day,” Sink said. “We all did it together. So I hope they can continue that in the years to come.”
