A Chat with Senior Kelly Ann Craig
11/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Senior Kelly Ann Craig started playing soccer when she was about three years old. She played FFPS in elementary and middle school. “I had a league with all my friends, and it was parent coached. It was so much fun,” said Craig. She then decided to take things to the next level and switched into the Albion Hurricanes FC until she came to college. Craig not only played soccer but also played several years on a lacrosse team. Team Texas was the name. “I was kind of really into it,” Craig explained. “They are kind of similar in the way that they play. I loved both of them, but I chose soccer and stuck with that… Soccer has always been the main sport for me.”
When it came to college decision time for the Houston native, the choice was pretty easy. “[SFA] was actually the first team that looked at me. Initially, I didn’t know where I wanted to go so I just overlooked it, and then when I really started deciding where I wanted to go, the little things just started lining up,” said Craig. She knew family friends who had really great experiences here, and she knew former SFA Soccer player Rachel Owens. “She actually went to Memorial, my rival high school. She was here, told me all the great things about it, and thought that it would be a great fit for me,” said Craig. It all came down to the actual on campus visit though, “my parents and I looked at each other and were just like ‘oh yeah, this is it!’”
Of her four years here, Craig thinks that her most memorable moment was from her freshmen year when the Ladyjacks were playing the UTEP Miners. She scored her first collegiate goal in that game to tie the score at one apiece. “We needed to score. It was near the end of the game, and I am like this freshman coming in. I make the big tying goal that went to overtime, and that’s when Chelsea Raymond scored and we won. That was a cool experience,” Craig explained. Your first goal of your career always holds a special place in your heart, but there are also games that are just down right fun. Craig went on to explain how this season’s game against Abilene Christian was a fun game. “I remember telling my parents when we came off the field that it was just fun. It was a good game, near the end of the season, and we all fought hard. It was a close nail-biting game, so that game was fun.”
Craig is one of eight seniors graduating in May, and one of two completing with a degree in Geology. She looks forward to working in the oil and gas industry, and is excited about the opportunities out there for her in the field.
Being a senior sometimes has its different concepts and feelings as the season winds down. Craig thinks that it’s a weird feeling that the eight of them are the seniors, because “we always felt like we were the crazy ones. Our class is so large. We always had so much fun, so it’s weird for us to be the mature seniority ones. I can’t believe it’s here. It is weird, but it has been so much fun.”
What is your favorite family vacation? We always go skiing to Colorado. I just have always loved that. We love the beach, too. Sometimes we go to the beach, but usually we go skiing. We typically go in the winter. Colorado is my favorite place to go, other than Texas probably.
If you could eat one meal for the rest of your live what would it be? Steak and baked potatoes. That’s an easy one. This may be dorky but whenever I am home, I just give my dad that look because he knows I love it when he makes my baked potatoes. He just makes them a special way, so I just love it when my dad makes them. Steak and baked potatoes, I could live off that for sure.
If you could describe Wally in one word what would it be? “Goofy” because we all mess around with him so much. He just says some of the dorkiest things. We always have music playing at practice, and he is always loud and joking around with us. I would probably have to say “goofy,” but he also knows when to be serious. But he makes things fun.
-SFA-
