By MEGAN MAHARRY
Student Writer
The ball moves back and forth. Right, left, right left. The ball is tapped forward. The plant of the left foot, the swing of the right, and shoelaces connect with the ball as it sails into the back of the net.
Soccer is not a foreign concept to sophomore Yazmin Gomez, but the middle of nowhere Oklahoma is.
Gomez spent her entire life growing up in Los Angeles before choosing to come to NWOSU on a soccer scholarship.
She traded city lights and the beach for endless wheat fields and constant wind. The one thing that remained was her love for soccer.
She began playing soccer at age six and has been playing ever since. From youth leagues, to club teams, through high school and into college, Gomez’s love for the game has grown.
It has not always been easy, however.
Soccer is competitive in L.A. Her club teams had expensive costs and a large time commitment. She played both club and high school soccer at the same time, which made for long afternoons and many late nights.
But practice after practice, her hard work and dedication, led her to a scholarship at NWOSU.
When Gomez arrived in Oklahoma, she had to adjust. She said she was not used to a town so small.
“I didn’t have the access to the things I grew up having in L.A.,” Gomez said.
Despite the change in scenery, Gomez has adapted and thrived here at NWOSU. She earned first-team all GAC conference at the end of this season, and she loves her teammates.
She is a business major and plans to go into marketing.
Oklahoma is no Hollywood, but it is the place Gomez has the opportunity to play the game she loves at the collegiate level.