Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hi, and welcome to this episode of hustle and pro. I'm your host, Kelly Walker. Today we're sitting down in my house to have a casual chat with one of my favorite youth athletes. Her name is Sydney Deckert. She played soccer here at Wakeland High School in Frisco and has since been in college for a few years now. So I wanted to take the chance while she's home on school break to catch up with her and learn a little bit more about her sports journey. So enjoy this episode with Sydney.
All right, Sydney, welcome to hustle and pro.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Well, so I mentioned in the open that you're home from break from college, and so I just thought it would be fun to sort of sit down and learn more about you. So I've known you a couple years, right? Two or three maybe, back when you were playing in high school at Wakeland and you've been to college a few years. And I just sort of met up with you and saw you randomly in October and had a quick chat. And I was like, okay, I want to have that chat, but on camera so that we can all learn a little more about you. So I guess rewind a little bit. I don't know you as a youth athlete. So tell me, I know you as soccer player. Now, what did you look like as a youth sports kid?
[00:01:12] Speaker B: I mean, same as now, I started when I was four, playing a ton of sports. Soccer, track, cross country, did the whole shebang and Bob. And then when I got to seven years old, my mom was like, look, you got to pick which sport you want.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: Seven? Yeah. Okay.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Because there's three of us. I got a twin and a little sister.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: You had a twin?
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yes, I was twin and then a little sister who's 13 months younger. So we're all like. We were like, called the irish triplet.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: So she was sports here, there. And so she got to a point, I was like, all right, pick a sport.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: All of you play sports?
[00:01:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Twin sports.
[00:01:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Pretty much the same in volleyball.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: All girls.
[00:01:48] Speaker C: Okay. Wow. Yeah.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: So mine was between cheer and soccer. And at seven, I decided to pick soccer. And then after a little few months later, I got asked to join a club which was called Liverpool. And so then I continued and played club till all of high school.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: So really young starting club.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I feel like if you're under, like, ten, that's really young for club.
[00:02:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: The kids probably have to really love it or the parents are, like, steering them and then if the kids don't love it. You're probably done pretty quick. Did you stick with club all the way through high school?
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Yes, all the way through high school.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Different clubs or did you stick with the stay?
[00:02:25] Speaker B: So I went from Liverpool to FC Dallas, and then I finished my last two years of high school at sting.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Oh, okay. We're sting fans.
I didn't realize that.
[00:02:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: I mean, sting is, like, known for. And originally being a girls club, we joined two. This is our second full year, so we're a year and a half in.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: For Jack's.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: 14, you? I guess 13, whatever it is. But it's a big club around here. I hadn't really known about it. We were FC Dallas for a few years as well, and so it's cool to see.
When we do training sessions, there's usually girls also, and boys, and we scrimmage and age older girls a lot, which is cool. Did you ever scrimmage, boys?
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah, we did. Boys at FC Dallas. My coach had a boys team.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Did you like scrimmage boys, or.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: No, I did. The boys, they have a faster, faster pace, aggressive, stronger. So it was fun to like.
[00:03:15] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Your touches have to be a lot faster. You got to be more aggressive. I don't know. I loved it.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: I mean, it should be one of those things that helps you compete better, right?
[00:03:23] Speaker B: 100%.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Should be like a change for your normal training and your normal competition and that kind of thing. Okay, so you just said aggressive.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: I've actually never seen you play soccer, because I think when I. I mean, I'm not a Wakeland parent, but I've seen a few Wakeland games when they play reedy, but I don't know why, I assume, but I feel like you're aggressive and loud on the field.
[00:03:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: So what is your position in playing style?
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Okay.
I play all across the back line. College, I've been playing center back, so I went to two different colleges. My first one, I was this outside back.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: The new college I'm at right now, I'm playing a center back. So I'm very vocal. Like you'll hear me a mile away. Everyone likes to say I'm very loud and. Yeah, super aggressive.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: What was your high school position?
[00:04:14] Speaker B: I was an outside, yeah.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Okay, so. All right, so high school, you also got to play. When you were playing sting and club, you also got to play for your high school? Yeah, for Wakeland.
Did you play? I know Wakeland. Girls soccer has always been really good around here, especially when you were there. So did you play when they won.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: State, so I was able to play. So junior year, we went to state, got second place. Senior year, I ended up tearing my ACL throughout the season, so I wasn't able to play. But that was my class.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: That was the year they won.
[00:04:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Okay, so it was my senior year.
[00:04:48] Speaker C: Yeah, you were.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: And I've heard even though you're not on the field, you're very important to the team because of your local leadership. You're not standing on the back line, but you're probably still very involved.
Were you still at all the things and all that in the middle?
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I became more of, like a coach to help out with the team and the program and all that.
[00:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Okay. So that injury, was that the worst thing at that point?
[00:05:18] Speaker B: That was probably my worst major injury.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: How did it happen? Were you in a game?
[00:05:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: So it was high school. Halfway through this second season, we're going back playing everybody. We were playing Frisco had the ball. A girl came in back, I was turning. A girl came in, chipped me from the back. I went in turn and tore my ACL.
[00:05:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: So you knew it probably instantly.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Heard the pop.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Sometimes you hear when people have knee injuries and it's sort of slider, they can make their way around on it for a while and wait it out or whatever.
[00:05:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: So did you have surgery right away?
[00:05:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: So that following Monday, went and saw our high school doctor, went in, got the MRI, was told that it was torn that Friday. Ended up getting a surgery really fast.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: That same week?
[00:06:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Same week, yeah. No, I was in and out because after that, I was focused on college, and I was like, okay, this is done.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: I mean, if that's second back, half of the spring.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: So it was February.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: February. Okay.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Because it's like high school starts before the.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Okay, so February of your senior year, what was your college commitment level at that point?
[00:06:33] Speaker B: So I had committed to Sam Houston State University. My process was a little slower just because Covid and all that. So I didn't end up committing till november, but I didn't sign my forms till February, like 7th.
Right when that signing happened. So a week later, I tore my ACL. Okay. Is that a blessing?
Well, if I hadn't assigned it, I think my scholarship would have gotten taken away.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Timing wise. Yeah, it would have been a worse situation for you.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: And then two weeks later, the coaches that had recruited me, my head coach, ended up retiring. So we ended up getting a whole new coaching staff.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Before you got there.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
So I'd come in, ACL coaches who had recruited me had all left.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: So I've never been recruited by college coaches. Is for you. How much of your decision was based on those specific coaches, what they talked to you about their personality, how much you wanted to play under them versus the school and the traditions and the people? Like the school stuff. Did you separate the two, and how much does the coaching matter?
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Oh, the coaching matters 100%. I wasn't a big about the label. You come to Frisco and everyone's like, oh, I got to be top ten, but also I want to play. So it was also like, okay, coach's personal. Like, I can't sit with someone who doesn't have a personality, and I have a very big personality. So it's like, if a coach doesn't have that, they're not going to get it. It's not going to be the same.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: It needs to match up.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: And so, of course, the campus, Matt, it just felt like home. That's kind of how I went on all these visits and stuff, and I was like, okay, does it feel like home? And then I also narrowed it down. Like, if I didn't play college soccer, could I see myself going here, too? Because I feel like that plays a big role because if I did have a medical, if that got taken away.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Would you still want to be at that school?
[00:08:24] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: And so, for you, that was all yeses. You committed to them and then, okay, the injury. So then you spend the rest of the season.
How long was that season? Like, when do you finish that wakeline.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Season states in April.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: April.
[00:08:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: So Easter weekend.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: Okay. Gosh, that's a long.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: So your surgery, you're probably starting your rehab and all that stuff, but you're still focused and I'm playing. I don't know. Athletes usually report, what, August something. July.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Yeah, July.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: You're in the mindset of, I got to get back. Like, the high school thing's done, right, but summer, fall, to be on the field again.
[00:09:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: So I was told by my first, because I had never had my ACL torn, and this first doctor was like, look, I can get you back in six months, which now looking at it.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: Is.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Especially if you don't want it to happen again. So I was told I'd be back for August. So I was like, all right, let's get surgery now.
Yeah.
But then later on, I figured out.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: I want to hear about that, too, because. Yeah, that's a big part of your story right now. Right. So you played in your freshman year?
[00:09:39] Speaker B: No. So I did not get to play in the fall. I got to play in the spring.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Okay, because you were still working on it.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: So I didn't get cleared till that.
This upcoming January.
[00:09:49] Speaker A: Okay, so then you start playing with that team.
So what's happened from then, from your first time actually playing college soccer to now?
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I know a lot, right? So much.
[00:10:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: So I got to play in January.
Ended up me and that new coach just didn't really see eye to eye on things, and I just thought it was best. Okay, I'm going to hit the portal. Well, of course, we didn't film anything in the spring, so I had no practices, no games, which kind of screwed up because I had a few other people hit the portal with me, too, and they were all kind of like, okay, the only film I had was from my senior year of high school. Like, I had high school and I had college or club.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Okay, so is that like your resume? Yeah, if you don't have any, it's.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: Kind of just you talking. Yeah, it's based on your words. And I was thankful enough that I had coaches that networking. At the end of the day, you never know what's happening. So I say it's a bless when coaches ask to talk. I'd say talk to them, get their information, because when I hit the portal, they all hit me back up. They were like, oh, my gosh, Sydney, we saw you in the portal. Yeah, they remembered me, all my things. And so I was thankful enough that I had all of that information where they believed and trust me, because at the end of the day, it became like my word against that faith in you.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Because if they're not seeing you in person right then or on video, they have to go off something.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: So they're going on your first encounter with them and then just conversation at that point.
You think your maturity level and your personality being assertive made the difference there?
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Oh, 100%, yeah. And you even can talk to the school I commend it to now they'll even say, like, oh, my gosh, you've changed a lot. Because I used to be. And then they talk to me now and they're like, yeah, you could tell there's a difference in what I want.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, were you advocating for yourself or at that point, I don't know, what, 1920 years old? Do your parents still deal with that or is this you?
[00:11:55] Speaker B: No, it's all me. I mean, I'm at a point, and coaches like to see you do it on your own because you have some.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Parents, I think, but I don't know. I don't know. So I just wonder, are the players really having all the conversations, doing the outreach, making the decisions?
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I know, 100%.
Before the portal opens, I had probably 50 emails that I had sent to all these different colleges. Sent them in the morning they'd send me back or text me, call me. But that first week I had probably at least 20 different calls with different coaches and just like working around their schedule, my schedule and all. Yeah.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Okay. That's a lot of work. So that's like what your job was at the time. So what happened?
What'd you decide and where'd you go?
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Yeah, so I had two colleges that I had brought it down to. I ended up picking a private school up in Ohio called Tiffin University. So I ended up going there before I committed. I ended up going on a visit and so I had to check the school out. I loved it. Coaches all had big, just, it was just everything I wanted.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: It felt good. Were they on your radar first round?
[00:13:04] Speaker B: I had talked to them in high school, but at that time I was like 1617. I'm like, Ohio. What?
[00:13:13] Speaker A: I mean, Ohio is a big change from Frisco.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Oh, 100%.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: So you've been there.
Have you had a. Okay, now I'm back. Messed up on my years, but I.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Went in there in the, this fall.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: Okay, so you're in your first school? Yeah, first school year. First playing season would be like happening. Right. Okay, so how's it going with being at Tiffin?
[00:13:39] Speaker B: It was awesome. I ended up first, so I got to play preseason games. All of that first conference game went in, tore my ACL again.
So that was a big okay.
But I ended up having. These coaches were like, sydney, we don't really care. We'll have you for six years. We love you. And so it was really good to hear that because I was like, oh, great, there goes my scholarship. I just got here, but they were really awesome where I was able to come back to Texas and do rehab for the rest of the semester, do online and then come back for the last two weeks and finish up finals.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Okay, so, yeah, so you went back. Okay, so you did get to play with him a little.
[00:14:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: Has setting the injury aside, which I know is probably hard to do, but has playing at that college level been what you wanted it to be like the girls and the coaching and the facilities and just being at that level when you're here in high school playing, has it been what you wanted?
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I'd say that.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Or what you expect.
[00:14:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Well, the facilities I played in high school, it's frisk. You get the best.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: You start pretty.
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: So it's like, when you get to college, it's already like, okay, I've already played the best facilities I have in high school, but at the same time, I was playing clubs, so we used to play in the middle of, like. No, where I'm at. And we have an indoor facility. We have an outdoor. Just because of snow and all of that. So I have places to go. No matter.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: You're probably indoor a lot.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: The whole spring. We will be. Because it snows a lot.
[00:15:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Is the level of rigor for student athletes to be training and competing or the training schedule and keep up with school harder than you thought? What you thought? Easy transition part of it, yeah.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Well, so, high school, I was playing high school soccer club, track, cross country.
[00:15:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: So I was doing the two a days every day. And I'll be honest, college, it's your job. You're in the season. You don't have time to slack up. You're up in the morning, you're training, you're grinding, and then it's school, then it's study hours, and then it's dinner, and you just start it over. And if you don't think you're ready for it, it's a lot. So if you're not ready for that pressure or that maturity.
I've seen so many girls quit just because of that.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. I feel like so many people don't understand the job, the commitment, and you hear it and people say it, but probably until you're experiencing it, you hear from people that you sort of need to realize or decide, do you want the traditional college experience that another girl your age would have, that they get to go out and do all the different social things and have all the time they really want, except a few hours during class every day. Right. Or what you have. Because you couldn't have them both at the same time, right?
[00:16:37] Speaker B: No.
[00:16:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Well, we had girls at Sam Houston, they did try to balance sorority and soccer, and it was like they had to miss a lot of sorority events. But then that did have a practice, and then they're on to the sorority event. I'm like. I was like, there's no way I would have been.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Okay, so now you're home over break, and you finished finals and all that. So what's your plan going forward from here?
[00:17:06] Speaker B: So, plan right now is so I'll be rehabbing, been rehabbing. I'll end up going back for the spring. By that time, I'll have started running. So the goal is by the spring semester, pretty much. I'll come back and get cleared. Goal is, like, june to get cleared, and then I'll be able to play next season.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Are injuries like yours? First of all, was it the same knee? Was it the same ligament?
[00:17:36] Speaker B: Yes, only ACL.
Well, what happened is, I guess the doctor who did my ACL, the graft came loose. So when I went in for the tackle, the graft came loose, but they had to do a whole ACL reconstruction just because it came loose and out of place.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: So it was more likely that it happened because of the first injury.
[00:17:54] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: Right. So your coaches sound really supportive and don't think of, is this a super common injury for girls soccer players?
[00:18:07] Speaker B: I feel like nowadays, yes, I feel like it is. Yeah. Not just girls, but you walk into my like I do pt. The amount of ACL, it's ridiculous.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: That's what I mean. They're probably not used to it, but the coaches are probably like, yeah, okay, this is it. This is normal for injuries now, and I don't understand why that is. And I don't know if you do either, but it just seems like it is super prevalent more and more and more.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Well, and just the way the girls bodies are, our hips are so wide, so it comes in, and so the reason you see it more in girls, because we have wider hips, and so when we go on for tackles and stuff, that's why they say it's just because of our hips and stuff. And if it's that time of month, everything's not as loose. Yeah, it's looser.
[00:18:57] Speaker C: And.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: No, that is interesting. Is like, inside a female's body, things are inflamed or not, and all the different things, and your health changes throughout your days and months, and it's really fascinating to know. And it's also like, it makes sense why there are more of these injuries in girls, but to have it twice is just like. It did gut you.
[00:19:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: I think the first one took a really mental toll on me. It was my first injury. I got to a point I was crying. I just couldn't take it. So I ended up going to see someone. So I ended up going to see a therapist, talking it out, and she had really just stated like, I was grieving a loss. I couldn't just take it. Like, I was just grieving so much that I couldn't just realize that dream of high school. Senior year.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: And it was senior year in all the state, and it was like, your.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Team is who you are. It was a big.
[00:19:52] Speaker B: It was a huge thing. And so it was like, jeez, I can't be a part of that. And so you're watching everyone else. So that was a big toll on me. The second time around has just been ten times, but I just mentally just so much better. And I think it's because I know what to expect and what to do right this time. So I kind of get like a do over kind of, in a way, if you get what I mean.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Interesting. Yeah, for sure. You know, what's happening to you, what to expect. Do you know the proper way to time yourself and not to rush yourself and to just let your body do what it needs to do and the doctors and all that good stuff. So has this experience getting hurt but then playing for one college and then coaches leaving and going through the portal process. Sounds like you learned a lot through that. And then getting hurt again and having these coaches and this whole couple, what, three years, I feel like, of this.
Has this made you, like, do you want to coach? Do you want to do in the medical? What do you want to do with your life? And has this impacted that at all?
[00:20:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: So, no, I definitely thought about coaching when I got older.
Right now it's business, and sales is kind of the goal at the moment, but I'd love to coach in the years. I love soccer, so I definitely for sure want to stick around it and probably do something with it.
[00:21:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: I feel like naturally you are good at coaching and leading and you're vocal and all that stuff, but going through this, I feel like you could have a very relatable connection with players because you've seen a lot of what you had to go through. And so I just wondered if you'd stick around the sport and the players and everything. Even when you're done, I mean, you still have really three years.
[00:21:36] Speaker B: I have four years. Four years. Four years. So I'll get my masters. Oh, wow.
[00:21:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: That's the goal is to get the Masters.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: That's like a whole nother lifetime.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: Four years.
[00:21:46] Speaker C: Yeah. I know.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: When you think back to your four years of high school, right. You have that to do all over again.
It is a long time for you. For now. That's exciting, though. Thank you for sitting down with me. I know that you have this crazy busy schedule with not only just being a college student, but rehabbing and all of that that comes with it. And then home for the holidays. And you have a birthday coming up.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Yes, tomorrow.
Happy birthday.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Early birthday.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: Fun. So when this publishes, it'll probably have already happened, depending on how fast I'm editing. But I just appreciate you coming over and sitting down and kind of explaining your story because you're not the only person I know right now that has their second ACL injury that they're going through. And so it's happening and it's not common, but it's a thing that athletes are going through and it's so hard and it feels like super crushing. But I think when people see other people that are getting through it and that have a really good positive mindset like you do, it's helpful.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Yeah, no, 100%.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: So thanks.
That's our episode for today. Hope you enjoy it. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at hustle underscore and underscore pro and follow us on YouTube to get notifications of the latest episodes.
