Chanute soccer player Abby Fisher told VYPE in a recent interview that “My favorite part of being on the team is the sense of belonging. We’re all at very different levels of skills, and yet it doesn’t matter. We come from very different groups of friends, but on the field it doesn’t feel like a bunch of individuals, it feels like one unit. We all communicate with each other so that we can all be successful. Even during practice, it feels like a community, rather than select little groups. It’s never awkward when it’s time to pick partners or groups because everyone gets along and we all want to better each other”.

Currently, Fisher is working to “improve my skills in the box and my general handling skills, as well as communicate more effectively with my team. I want to be smarter with my decisions, rather than just agressive”. Of course, she’s already learned a lot from the game itself.

“It’s taught me to celebrate the good, no matter how small. As a brand new team last year, we had so much to learn and there’s no better way to learn than through mistakes. Instead of focusing on our record, we celebrated our improvements from game to game. We cheered each other on the entire time during the game. After the game, Coach Fox would lead into her talk with celebrations where we would go around and talk about improvements we noticed or just general good plays that needed to be congratulated. At the beginning of the season, it was awkward to sit in a circle and talk about each other, but by the end of the season Fox had to basically tell us “Okay guys no more if we keep going we’re going to be here all night” because it was so easy for all of us to find things to celebrate” said Fisher.

What has kept Fisher, who is a member of NHS, Band, and Managing Editor of the school paper The Octave, motivated and working hard is a piece of advice that she carries with her. Sharing “Dig deep. It’s all mental”. Explaining that “I used to wrestle last year before my mom didn’t want me to for health reasons. Coach Nick Nothern would always tell us while we wrestled that the pain was all mental. The idea that you’re not good enough is all mental. Your body is so much more capable than your mind gives it credit for. When your mind tells you that your body can’t take anymore, it’s all mental. You can always dig deeper.