Super Y-League Feature
Saturday, March 8, 2014
BRADENTON, Fla. – Cassie Symonds was already a standout player for Seacoast United. The past four months have just come to confirm what a lot of people already knew.
“It’s been really fun; I’ve had a very good year,” Symonds said.
Back for a second consecutive year at the Super Y-League Olympic Development Program National Camp, Symonds arrives as an All-Tournament selection after helping her side claim the Girls U16 championship at the SYL North American Finals, a high school champion with Windham HS in Maine, and the Gatorade Maine Girls High School Player of the Year.
Alongside her, almost every step of the way, has been her younger sister, Maggie, who is also at IMG Academy this weekend. Set to join her sister at Windham HS in the fall as a freshman, Maggie played up with her sister for Seacoast’s U16s this past year, and takes inspiration from the influence Cassie provides.
“Playing with my sister, that was really important to me, to be able to play with her,” Maggie said. “I look up to her a lot, so that was really nice.”
While she played up with her sister in the Super Y-League, Maggie is part of the U14 division at IMG Academy this weekend. With all that Cassie has achieved in the past six months, the younger sibling certainly feels the expectation that she live up to her sister’s achievements in the future.
“I definitely have huge shoes to fill,” Maggie said. “She got Gatorade Player of the Year recently, and she got the Portland Herald Player of the Year as well, so there are a quite a few things that I get to look up to.”
Cassie, though, sees the potential that Maggie shows. The middle sister of three – the eldest, Jordan, just completed her freshman season the Florida Insitute of Technology – Cassie is hoping she can be for her younger sister what Jordan was to her.
“I would personally think she’s going to be even better than I was,” Cassie said. “It’s great that she has the opportunity to play up with us. … It’s fun to watch her improve. She pushes herself so hard to be as good as the older girls. Even when she gets frustrated sometimes, because she thinks she isn’t doing as well, but it’s fun to watch her grow and play.”
For Cassie, there’s now more to pursue. In addition to the accolades, she recently committed to play at Holy Cross in 2015, and is aiming to continue the progression her game has shown at this weekend’s events. Then, it will be back to Maine, and the opportunity to defend their championship, something she is looking forward to greatly.
“I’m very competitive, and I love playing, and I love the team aspect of it,” Cassie said. “I’ve been with my club team for a very long time, and it’s just great.”
With Maggie and her teammates alongside her again, the next 12 months should be just as successful.