Amanda d’Almeida (far left) catches a brief moment of rest in her busy life, posing with her roommates during a college recruiting visit.
Amanda d’Almeida is committed.
The Coupeville High School senior has sacrificed her body, her time and a chance to be a three-sport star (she gave up basketball after eighth grade but remains a tennis ace in the spring) for the Wolves in pursuit of soccer excellence, traveling and playing with a series of elite club soccer squads.
After a stint with Northwest United in Burlington, d’Almeida stepped up to the highest club level in the state, playing with the Lynwood-based Northwest Nationals. That team, which plays tournaments in Oregon and California, qualified for US Club Nationals and played top teams from New York, New Jersey and Illinois, capping its run by thrashing the 7th ranked team in the nation.
Her play for the select squad has attracted substantial college interest in the Wolf midfielder. Plus, she got to see what the big-time was like.
“Almost all college recruiting comes from playing on select teams,” d’Almeida said. “It was a big sacrifice, as I had to give up winter basketball, which I really enjoyed in middle school. But, I loved soccer more and decided to make the sacrifice and drive twice a week to training.
“It was so cool to fly with my team and play a big national tournament.”
A top-level student, d’Almedia is opting to look at Division 3 schools. She wants a small liberal arts school, a place where she can enjoy “a college experience where the campus is the center of activity.”
She has visited Claremont and Scripps in California and Haverford in Pennsylvania, while having a list of other possibilities lined up and trying to sweet-talk her (Bowdoin, Bates, Carleton, Whitman, Willamette and Lewis & Clark). Going to a D3 school will enable her to have the academic experience she wants, while actually providing more financial help than a D1 scholarship might offer.
“All the schools I am looking at do not offer athletic scholarships, but they do offer different merit scholarships and financial aid,” d’Almedia said. “It’s funny, but my cousin plays D1 soccer for Gonzaga and is on scholarship there, but I actually am expecting more money from a D3 school.
“We learned that D1 schools often ‘split’ their scholarships, so it can end up being pretty expensive for even a recruited athlete,” she added.
In an interesting twist, d’Almeida’s impeccable academic credentials actually may mean more to college coaches than her remarkable skills on the pitch.
“As a teacher, I really foster the student-athlete in school,” said her dad, CHS girls’ soccer coach Dan d’Almeida. “One story I like to share was the first time Amanda was scouted by a college coach. After the game I went over to introduce myself while Amanda’s team was warming down. The very first words out of the coaches’ mouth were, “What is her GPA?”
“For many, many schools it is much easier for a coach to support a player AND for the player to get a good package if you have high grades,” he added. “So, what I’m saying is that there is usually MUCH MORE money for being a strong student in the class than for being a top athlete. Be BOTH and you will get admitted to a more selective school AND you will get a good aid package.”
And, while he admits he was a bit bummed his daughter chose to not follow in his footsteps by attending Cornell (not exactly the pits when it comes to academics), he understands her desire to seek out a small college.
While Amanda d’Almeida would like to play for the best team possible, she wants the complete college experience and will let her natural soccer ability help pay for her education, while not becoming consumed with an all-sports, all-the-time outlook.
“Soccer is definitely a second to my academics. I want to play soccer in college but I am not basing my decision on whether it is a winning team or not,” d’Almeida said. “All the colleges I am looking at I am being “recruited” for, so I know I will be able to play soccer.
“I look at the geographic location and first and foremost the academic opportunities and the rigor of the classes,” she added. “In the D3 world, coaches ‘support’ you and over the past summer several coaches presented my transcript and test scores to their admissions office. Fortunately, every school came back and said that I would be admitted, so I’m pretty lucky!”
D’Almeida is not sure what she wants to major in, but she does have a dream to one day take part in Doctors Without Borders. She participated in an orphanage mission to China this summer, along with CHS volleyball coach Toni Crebbin and her primary friendly competitor for the title of Best Wolf Female Athlete, Bessie Walstad, and was profoundly affected by the chance to make a difference for others.
She is considering pre-med (“I am inspired to become a doctor to help those in need.”) and completed an internship with Dr. Gabe Barrio in Oak Harbor earlier this year.
As she continues her whirlwind tour of colleges, interspersed with club and high school soccer, d’Almedia is riding the huge wave of joy that swept through Coupeville when the Wolf booters beat Sultan last week, snapping a season-long winless streak.
“I think that our team keeps improving every year. Although we have a large senior class, there is a lot of potential in the underclassmen,” d’Almeida said. “Several of them have club soccer experience, which is really important because this game takes so much skill and understanding to play well.
“With more time and experience I think they will really improve, which could eventually get us to winning multiple games!,” she added. “We work well as a team and we all really like each other, which I think has showed in our improvement as a team. We just need to believe and stay focused and we can win some games!”
With just a handful of games left in the regular season — and then hopefully a long playoff run — d’Almeida is in the stretch run of her impeccable high school soccer career. She plans to enjoy every moment.
“I would love to possibly make an All-Conference team this year but really I just want to make my last year memorable, work hard, have fun with it, and be a good captain to my team!,” she said.
And then she’ll go make a college coach very, very happy.
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