By Stella Sa
Guyer Senior, Natalie Mayes who has been the Goalkeeper for all four years of her high school career and currently captains the girls Varsity soccer team was interviewed by the journalism class. She talked regarding her position, motivations, her future, and about being the main leader and backbone of the team.
Mayes has greatly impacted her teammates with her leadership, determination, and courageous attitude to protect the goal and block any shots by the opposing team. Mayes shared that the 2022-23 season went well and the team performed skillfully, even though the non victorious games were disappointing. She will be attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette this fall and will be playing Division 1 soccer.
Mayes started playing soccer at the age of four but debuted as a goalkeeper three years later. Since then, she has dominated the backline in all of the teams she has joined. Mayes’ passion and hunger to improve is what drives her to keep playing soccer. Moreover, Mayes states that the Guyer girls’ soccer team, also known as GSOC, is more of a family and a deep connection, rather than just a school soccer team.
Her favorite tradition throughout her experiences at Guyer was the annual Georgetown trip, which happens every January. It gives an opportunity to get to know the players better and form a closer relationship with each other while they stay together in a hotel for several days.
Mayes states that the most challenging part about being on Varsity, other than playing the game or being in the weightroom, is to keep up with the skill level, because fellow teammates are very experienced players and it is overall, a more demanding environment.
Mayes is a very well rounded student and athlete. She won the TASCO Academic All State and the 1st Team All District award, for the 2022-23 season. Besides being a successful soccer goalkeeper, Natalie enjoys activities like spending time with her sister Emily and practicing her faith with fellow members of the I am Second club. She is involved with the Student Council as a secretary, and a part of the National Honor Society as well as the National Charity League, serving philanthropy organizations through community service.
