Coupeville Sports

   Coupeville High School freshman Aurora Cernick. (Photo courtesy Michelle Cernick)

It’s a whole new playing field for Aurora Cernick.

The Coupeville High School freshman has played soccer before — she started in Idaho, then moved to Coupeville, and has four years of pitch experience.

But each of those seasons she played alongside twin sister Autumn, who has chosen to pursue drama over soccer as the duo enter high school.

For a young woman who admits “I’m a naturally shy person,” the loss of her sister brought on a few nerves, but Coupeville’s older players have helped her through the transition.

“The girls have been so great. They were very warm and welcoming to her,” mom Michelle Cernick said. “She was very nervous her first couple of days and might not have made it past those days because of her nerves if not for some really awesome upperclassman reaching out to her.

“I’m so grateful to these wonderful young ladies because it has not been easy for Aurora to branch out without her sister,” she added. “Soccer girls rock!”

Once she’s in the thick of action, with the game flowing around her, Aurora Cernick finds her groove.

“I enjoy the aggression required to play the game,” she said. “During a game I’m not as shy and not scared to get in there and use my body to move people out of the way to help my team.”

When asked to assess her strengths, Cernick turned to her youth coach, dad Reese, and he hailed her for “never giving up, no matter what.”

That is evident in her just taking the field, as she deals on a daily basis with Osgood-Schlatter Disease, a knee ailment which often afflicts young athletes when they’re going through growth spurts.

“It can make running difficult at times, but I never give up,” Cernick said.

As she begins to feel more comfortable on the pitch, the young booter is always intent on improving her skills. She took advantage of the school’s off-season Sports Specific Training workout sessions and also works on her own.

“I hope to be able to improve my endurance this season, because it is hard to be the slow girl on the team,” Cernick said. “I have been working very hard all summer trying to get myself in better shape for this season.

“As far as future seasons, I hope to improve my skills and get better the older and more mature I get,” she added. “I can’t juggle (the ball) to save my life and I would very much like to improve in that area.”

Cernick, who was involved in drama productions in middle school, is branching out in high school, with plans to join the choir and play softball for the first time.

Even before those additions, her life has been a busy one.

A big fan of the music of Panic at the Disco, Cernick is an avid reader and a long-time Girl Scout.

“I love to spend my extra time reading and my favorite book is White Fang by Jack London,” she said. “It is very rare that you will find me without a book in my hand.”

A self-described tomboy (“I don’t wear dresses or makeup; I enjoy participating in the dirtier parts of life”), Cernick is a fan of history (“I enjoy learning about things in the past”) and spent part of the summer helping her dad with his pest control business.

“I’m not scared of getting my hands dirty!”

Her family, which includes older brother Chris, a CHS sophomore, is at the core of her life.

“My family has greatly impacted my life,”Cernick said. “They taught me to be a better person in life and to always treat others with kindness.

“My mom always says to “kill them with kindness,” she added. “That is something I plan to always live by and I wouldn’t be who I am today without my family.”