The 2024-2025 girls soccer season will be the final high school season for some players, one being Nici Sharon, who has played for the varsity team at MSHS since her freshman year. Around the end of July of 2024, Nici Sharon committed to CSU Pueblo after receiving a minor athletic scholarship, and she is ready to play for four more years in her college career.
Nici Sharon and her sister Madison Sharon both played soccer as kids, and Madison Sharon believes that her sister has always loved soccer. “She’s definitely had her fair share of trying out a bunch of different sports when we were younger,” Madison Sharon said. “We were in a little league with a bunch of other kids and she loved it, and she definitely played hard.”
Nici Sharon’s parents have supported her in numerous ways throughout her soccer career, including building a practice space for her in their backyard, driving her to soccer camps and buying her goalie gloves. “My dad said, ‘We’re gonna build a miniature soccer field in the backyard, so then you guys can practice this and improve,’ and so it kind of started off there,” Madison Sharon said.
Benjamin Mack, who has coached Nici Sharon since her freshman year, identified her competitive nature even before her freshman year, because she had attended a few practices at the end of her eighth grade year. “She played forward striker a few years ago, and she was really good. She was goal hungry,” Mack said, “but early on in the process we realized we really needed a goalkeeper. After she graduates, we hope to develop the right kind of player who’s going to be able to really take advantage of that role and play well for us and overall she worked really hard with it.”
Mack believes that she has always had a competitive spirit, but because of her deeper understanding of soccer that she has developed from years of experience, she can better direct that competitiveness into different parts of the game. “She really, really wants to win,” Mack said, “which is great, you know, you need all kinds of players to help balance your team, but you certainly need that killer instinct, that killer drive, and Nici definitely has that. She’s willing to sacrifice her body in big moments where she needs to come out and just slide at somebody’s feet and not be afraid ever. She’ll really put herself on the line to help her team in that way.”
Nici Sharon did not always have a passion for being goalie, but rather, it developed over time. “He pushed me pretty hard and he’s the whole reason I’m a goalkeeper, because he told me as a freshman that he needed one,” Nici Sharon said, “I told Mack every day that I didn’t want to do it, and that he needed to find someone else, but at the end of my sophomore year, after we went to state I decided that I actually liked it. He kind of pushed me to do that, and I wouldn’t have been a goalkeeper if he hadn’t.”
Nici Sharon recently tore her MCL, which is a common knee injury that is often treated without surgery and typically can be recovered in between 3-4 weeks in somewhat mild cases. Because of this injury, she did have to quit club soccer recently, with hopes to give her knee a rest. “I’ve been lucky enough to not have to miss a high school season,” Nici Sharon said, “but I have missed three of my four club seasons, unfortunately, because I’m on my third knee surgery.”
Although she is injured, Nici Sharon is certain that she will recover fully in time for the girls season. “I’m supposed to be out in probably three weeks or so, but I’m not too worried about it because I’ve come back from injuries before, and it’s just mentality,” Nici Sharon said.
Nici Sharon hopes to get playing time as a goalkeeper, because if her team has another goalkeeper, it’s likely that she won’t play consistently.
Nici Sharon is excited to become close with her new teammates at CSU Pueblo. “I’m really excited to meet people and actually have an exact group to spend time with,” Nici Sharon said, “I won’t have to try and go make friends because I’ll have this one group of teammates with similar goals in life and stuff.”
Mack believes that this is a good opportunity for Nici Sharon. “We’re gonna miss her and I wish her the best,” Mack said, “I played at CSU Pueblo, way back in the day, and that’s where my oldest daughter played as well. It’s a really good program, and it’s high level so I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for her.”
