By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 9/25/03)

"When I was younger, I would say I was going to grow up to be a professional soccer player," said Laura Kaye, a junior at Catholic University and parishioner of St. Philip Parish in Falls Church.

Kaye, a starting midfielder for the Cardinal’s soccer team, has proven herself as a star athlete, both at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria where she graduated in 2002, and now at Catholic. At both schools she has played soccer, as well as basketball and track.

At Bishop Ireton, she was chosen for first team all WCAC soccer in 2001. She was female athlete of the year and most valuable player in soccer and track in 2002.

During her freshman year at Catholic, she was chosen for second-team all CAC and rookie of the year for soccer and all CAC, rookie-of-the-year and most valuable player for track and field.

Kaye has been involved in sports since the age of four. She started playing soccer on club teams at that age, and continued playing on clubs through high school, when she also joined the school team.

Although soccer has always been her favorite sport, Kaye tried her hand at many activities.

She played tee-ball until she wasn’t allowed to use the tee anymore. She danced ballet, tap and jazz for about eight years, but because she didn’t enjoy wearing tights, she gave up on dancing in the sixth grade.

When she quit dancing, she took up basketball — a sport she continues to excel at. Kaye said she began playing basketball "mainly because all my friends played," but she ended up loving the sport.

Kaye began running track her sophomore year of high school to stay in shape for soccer, but found it addicting. "Once I started, I couldn’t stop," she said.

Kaye admits that being so athletically involved has helped shape who she has become. She says sports have taught her discipline, determination and how to trust others. It has given her self-confidence and a work ethic that has helped her in academics as well.

Besides participating in three sports, Kaye is a full-time student and has a work-study job.

Because Catholic University is a Division III school in athletics, students are not excused from classes missed because of games.

Kaye admits that time management is essential to her lifestyle. Some days, she will have to leave school at noon for a game and not return until midnight. She has learned to appreciate naps during the day because of long nights of studying.

While playing three sports leaves little room for a social life, Kaye says it is worth it. "It is hard when my friends want to take weekend trips to New York or go to a concert and I have to stay back at school because I'll have practice or a game." But, she said, "My teammates are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. If I cannot go out because of a game, I have just as much fun hanging out with just the girls in one of our dorms."

Kaye says that her inspiration for life — athletically, academically and spiritually — is her mother, Ann Kaye, a fourth-grade teacher at Corpus Christi School in Falls Church. When her mother was in high school, there was no girls’ basketball program, so she started one.

"She is the strongest person I know," Kaye said about her mother. "She is a single mom with five kids and a teacher's salary. How she provides for all of us, I will never know. I hope that one day I can be at least half as strong a woman as she is."

As far as athletics are concerned, Kaye has proven to be strong. She scored 14 goals for the soccer team last year, five of which were game-winning goals. She helped the Cardinals win their season-opening game against Trinity College this year by scoring two goals.

Beginning her freshman year at Catholic, Kaye only planned to participate in soccer, but a teammate encouraged her to try out for basketball. Maggie Lonergan, the coach of the girls’ basketball team, said she was hesitant at first when Kaye asked to tryout.

Kaye made the team, and although she didn’t get much playing time until mid-season because of the overlap between soccer and basketball, Kaye proved herself as an asset to the team. "She has an amazing nose for the ball and combined with her incredible speed she is able to rebound and defend better than anyone on the team," said Lonergan.

"Laura is our fastest player, which is a big asset in basketball," she added. "This makes the rest of the team work hard because they want to beat her."

After basketball season, Kaye thought she should take a break from sports. After two weeks with no practices or games, Kaye couldn’t figure out what to do with her free time, so she talked to Jerry Fisher, coach of the women’s track team, and soon she was involved in yet another sport.

Kaye scored in the high jump, 400-meter hurdles, and 400-meters and competed on the 400-meter and 1600-meter relay teams. "Laura Kaye was an impact freshman on the women’s track team," said Fisher.

But Kaye’s days at Catholic contain more than just sports practices. She is majoring in business marketing and hopes to work in the sports industry following graduation. Her goal is to work for a sports team or even play on one. "Even though I'm older and hopefully wiser, I still dream about being a professional soccer player," said Kaye.