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Brooke DeRosa's life seems more like an emotional movie than anything else.
Brooke DeRosa found time as Hofstra's goal-scoring leader in 2007 while caring for her 1-yard-old daughter and attending graduate school. (Photo courtesy of Adelphi University)
This article was originally published on BigAppleSoccer on November 7, 2007.
michael lewis
Brooke DeRosa's life seems more like an emotional movie than anything else.
She attends Syracuse University for her education and plays soccer as a defender and midfielder. She gets engaged and then becomes pregnant. She breaks up with her fiance, returns to her home and her family in Ronkonkoma, Louisiana, and gives birth to her baby.
She decides to return to school closer to home and play her remaining soccer season of eligibility and enrolls at Hofstra University. Her coach, Simon Ridio, placed DeRosa at forward, where she became the leading scorer and helped her team advance to at least the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals.
And guess what? It's not fiction or fairy tales. It's all true.
DeRosa was able to juggle caring for a baby, attending graduate school, and playing school thanks to a few key factors.
“It's a time management issue,” she said. “I learned good time management as an athlete already in college. It's a lot to deal with. I got a lot of support from my family. My mom is at home. You can see her dad watching the baby.
“They were completely supportive of every decision I made to come back to continue going to school and continue playing soccer.
“Their positive enforcement made things a lot easier for me.”
However, at one time, DeRosa's life was much more difficult and demanding as she had to deal with a pregnancy, a breakup, and the emotional burden of dropping out of school and moving back home.
“It was tough,” DeRosa said. “But staying positive was the best thing I could do. Just looking ahead, being excited about finishing school, watching my baby grow and also playing soccer is really important to me.” was.
“Soccer has been such a big part of my life for so long that I didn't want to give it up forever. I'm really happy to be back.”
A 2002 graduate of Connettquot High School, DeRosa majored in art at Syracuse University, where he played from 2002 to 2004, before redshirting his senior season in 2005 due to injury. Then, from 2005 to 2006, she found out that she was pregnant. . Her relationship ended and DeRosa gave up her senior season and returned home to give birth to her girlfriend.
Although she wanted to get her degree, she was still itching to play the sport she loved. She narrowed her choices down to her two choices, Hofstra University and Dowling University. She chose the former.
“At first, I was looking for an academic reason to go back to school because I wanted to finish my undergrad and go to graduate school,” DeRosa said. “I was looking for the best school on Long Island that offered the best in soccer and academics. Hofstra was one of my main choices. Dowling on the other side was closer to home. It was a Division II school. I chose Hofstra because of the football and because they actually have a graduate program that I was interested in.”
Its graduate program is in education, with an emphasis on grades K through 12. “I don’t mind working at any age,” she said.
It was a huge challenge to get back in shape after not playing competitive soccer for three years. Being fit and being fit are two different things.
“It’s hard to get to either,” she said. “Just getting back into the fitness mindset was hard enough. Just thinking about running and pushing myself was hard enough. Once you get there, it's all worth it.”
In addition to exercise, DeRosa decided he needed to get his soccer skills back. So she decided to play in three leagues this summer instead of one or two. She performed in the Long Island Women's League for the Ellwood Soccer Club and as a member of the men's team in the Indoor League for KK Athletics in Farmingville, Illinois.
“It wasn’t the same when playing in pickup leagues,” she said. She said: “I had completely forgotten what competitive soccer was like, so I was really interested to see what it was actually like to play competitive soccer again.
“It was pretty difficult. I was able to go back. It rained a lot. I played a lot this summer. I was on three different teams. I was just playing the whole time. I was just in competitive mode. I was trying to get back to.”
She helped care for Sierra, who celebrated her first birthday on September 8th.
DeRosa took Sierra to several games and practices. Not surprisingly, toddlers loved this game.
“She likes watching it on TV,” she said. “She actually dribbles the ball a little bit. She's been walking since she was 10 months old. I feel like she's copying everyone. She watches soccer and tries to dribble herself too. I think she taught herself that. I didn't need to teach her that.”
At Syracuse, DeRosa played either left back or central midfield.
When she joined Hofstra, Lydia decided to put her on the front line. Lidio's best friend is St. John's girls coach Ian Stone, who coached DeRosa's club team, the HBC Magic. Lydiau, who played with one of DeRosa's brothers and coached another at Hofstra, got to know the Magic players and knew DeRosa's best position was forward.
“I think it’s a different philosophy,” he said. “I’ve always seen her as a forward.”
That would have been fine with DeRosa.
“It’s an exciting position,” she said. “I'm going to get people on board and get to the goal. I feel like I can now have a bigger impact on the team. I feel like I can help the team more in that position than in any other position. Rather, it is my natural position.”
DeRosa, who is 5-4, put his money where his mouth is instead of putting his foot in his mouth.
“I was pretty nervous going into preseason,” she said.
She scored two goals in the first two games.
“It was just luck,” she said at the time.
Lidio added: “She was everything I expected and more.”
Since then, the 23-year-old DeRosa has scored a team-high 11 goals (plus five assists) this season, but it was clearly more than just luck.
“I'm able to perform like this because of the team around me,” she said.
Asked if there was one goal that stood out to DeRosa, Lidiaau admitted there was none.
“She was basically a highlight reel,” he said. “Every game she did something special.
“She had a great season. She was great. In some ways, her having a few years off has had an added effect on her game. She's a more mature player.”
Both on and off the field.
“She's a great leader,” he said. “That was exactly what we needed this year. We needed someone to be a leader for us. She's a quiet leader and she added a little maturity to the team. It's a perfect fit.”
What would make this reality movie's ending even more fitting is that DeRosa scores a few more goals this weekend and Hofstra wins the CAA crown. The Pride will face James Madison on Friday at 5 p.m.
“We have the ability to win this tournament and advance to the NCAAs,” she said. “This is my first time playing in the (NCAA) Tournament. I would be really happy if I could play in the tournament.
“I'm really happy with all the results this season, the team's performance. I couldn't ask for anything more.”