Maia Sparkman and older brother Guy.
Sparkman makes the magic happen on the soccer pitch.
After 10 months of “picking” on South Whidbey, I have decided to offer an olive branch to Coupeville’s closest rival.
While I don’t exactly want the Falcons to beat the Wolves at anything, the reality is there are a lot of very talented, very smart young men and women wearing the blue and white. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge them.
Cause Lord knows the Canadian-owned South Whidbey Record isn’t exactly doing a bang-up job at it.
Maia Sparkman has talent for days.
The Falcon senior soccer star, who has been her team’s starting center midfielder since her first moments on the pitch as a freshman, decided to run track last year. Bam! Trip to state as a key member of South Whidbey’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relay squads.
But it’s the beautiful game which has taken most of her time and energy, as Sparkman balances her high school team with playing for the Northwest Nationals premier squad.
“My favorite sport is soccer and I am very passionate about this sport,” Sparkman said. “I think what I enjoy the most is setting up my teammates for a goal scoring opportunity.
“To me, it’s not really scoring the goal that counts, it’s the build up of the play to make that goal happen,” she added. “I am also a strong leader. I bring a lot of communication to the game which really helps my teammates keep pushing themselves.”
Her career on the pitch has been dotted with huge moments, from a “golden goal” to beat Sultan in double overtime last season to a beautiful assist which set up freshman Annie Lux on a header that downed Granite Falls in a second extra period.
“Beating Granite was a huge milestone for South Whidbey’s varsity team because when I was a freshman the only team we beat was Sultan,” Sparkman said. “My sophomore year we only beat Coupeville and Sultan, and my junior we beat Coupeville, Sultan and Granite.
“I think the the girls soccer team is slowly regaining its strength and the school will support girls soccer now if we start doing better,” she added.
Sparkman and fellow senior Madi Boyd, also a state meet contender in track, pace the Falcons. The duo have played together since they were barely taller than the ball.
“Madi is an outstanding player that I’ve been playing sports with ever since I was in probably 3rd grade,” Sparkman said. “I’m excited to share my senior soccer season with her.
“My goal for this upcoming season is to have a better winning record then last year. It’ll be a struggle to beat Cedarcrest, King’s and Archbishop because they have so many premiere level players that SW just doesn’t have,” she added. “I don’t have doubts that our team will be great, but even if we end up not doing well, I still want to make it a season to remember.”
With her successes tempered by hard work and setbacks (a tough loss that cost her premier team a trip to nationals made her realize “even with a lead, a team won’t win if they don’t play until the end of the game”, while a broken ankle was hard to fight back from), Sparkman relishes the moment.
Along for the ride have been parents Russell and Noriko Sparkman, who have encouraged her, inspired her and shaped the vibrant young woman Falcon fans see today.
“I broke my ankle very badly in February of 2012 which required surgery and being on crutches for three months, then I had rehab for another month and a half,” Sparkman said. “My mom pushed me through my recovery and kept reminding me that I will be back on my feet playing soccer in no time.
“It helped receiving encouragement from both my mom and dad while I was on crutches because I was ready to give up soccer,” she added. “My mom deals with my attitude so often I’ll never find a way to thank her for putting up with me.”
More than just an athlete, Sparkman offers the complete package. An ASB secretary, she has graced the honor roll every semester of her high school career, is in National Honor Society and enjoys Spanish club and DECA.
While she’s committed to attending a four-year university after high school, she’s not sure whether she’ll continue to play soccer or will take a breather from a lifestyle that has required a huge output of time and effort.
She’s received interest from Pacific, UC Santa Cruz and Evergreen State, and while she appreciates the offers, it may be time for a change.
“I’m undecided on if I want to play in college because I kind of want to just live my life without making my life around soccer,” Sparkman said. “I have committed all four years of my high school life to soccer because of how much I practice overtown and the ferry rides take up a lot of time.
“I kind of want to just live my life without making soccer my number one priority,” she added. “I will be choosing the school that I want to go to first, then if I can play soccer there I will probably end up playing. If I can’t play on the varsity team at the school that I end up at, I will for sure play for a club or intramural team.”
Talented on the soccer pitch and in the classroom, Sparkman tops it off with a grace not always seen at the high school level. Given the chance to blast Coupeville and proclaim her school’s superiority, she instead chooses to focus on the positives of her experience as a Falcon.
“I don’t know many people from Coupeville and I’m sure everyone is nice, but South Whidbey has a family-like relationship with each other,” Sparkman said. “I can walk around the hallways and comfortably say hi to everybody.
“I enjoy being a Falcon because every person from our school is proud of who they are and where they come from.”
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