simmrin dhaliwal
soccer school: Panorama Ridge (Surrey)
freshman’s future:
Northwestern
Simmrin Dhaliwal has spent the vast majority of her youth soccer career playing ahead of her age class, so it’s OK to enjoy a bit of a chuckle at her expense while she reminisces about her most awkward and heartbreaking moment on the pitch—one which took place over her first year in the sport, at age 7.
“They put me in net for the first half, and the other team scored seven goals on me,” the senior at Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Secondary recalls with a tone of mock horror, the levity in her voice reflecting the incredible growth she has undergone since that moment a decade ago. “I came off the field crying. But my dad was there with me that day, and we’re both competitive people. He still saw potential in me.” Since that time, so have so many others. A standout member of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC REX program, Dhaliwal’s presence on the pitch with like-minded elite players has revealed a lot about her game, including an uncanny sense of anticipation, an intangible which she showcased to great effect when she suited up for Canada as its starting right fullback in Costa Rica in March 2014 at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
“I came into camp telling myself that it was all right if I didn’t get playing time,” remembers Dhaliwal.
“But I just worked hard and in our first exhibition game, against Japan, I was the starting right back. It was an amazing feeling.”
And it’s with a similar sense of anticipation that Dhaliwal will greet the next chapter in her life.
Later this summer, she’ll leave the comfort of her Surrey home for one of NCAA Div. 1’s most heralded academic-athletic institutions, the Big 10’s Northwestern University, located just outside of Chicago in the college ’burg of Evanston.
With an undergraduate acceptance rate of under 13 per cent, it is one of the most selective universities in the U.S.
“All I could ask for was a school that really balanced its academics with its athletics,” says Dhaliwal, “and what they do for studentathletes is awesome.”
Dhaliwal’s contemplating a major in biology while she continues to work toward her goal of ultimately making Canada’s senior women’s national team.
What a journey it’s been, from the day she gave up seven goals and left the field in tears.