{"id":117171,"date":"2019-11-20T17:03:35","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T00:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117171"},"modified":"2019-12-28T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T22:01:10","slug":"bright-future-in-store-for-womens-soccer-team-captain-aleesa-muir-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117171","title":{"rendered":"Bright future in store for women’s soccer team captain Aleesa Muir ’20"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aleesa Muir ’20, captain of the UCCS women’s soccer team, in the 2019 RMAC quarterfinal game against Colorado State University-Pueblo. Photo by Kirk Smith.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Aleesa Muir ’20, captain of the UCCS women’s soccer team, life \u2013 including soccer, school and thinking about the future \u2013 is \u201call about balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muir balances more than most. She\u2019s preparing to graduate with a bachelor\u2019s degree in biology focused on biomedical sciences. She\u2019s captain of a team vying for the NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship. She holds a near-perfect 3.95 GPA. She helps chemistry professor James Kovacs conduct lab research on therapies to treat lupus. She\u2019s getting married in January. And she\u2019s planning a future that looks to be just as jam-packed as her life in college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do best when I\u2019m busy,\u201d she said, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colorado Springs native has spent her entire academic\ncareer in-state. After graduating high school from The Classical Academy in\nsouthern Colorado Springs, Muir spent a year playing for Colorado College\u2019s\nDivision I team before transferring to UCCS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Muir slaps hands with her teammates before the RMAC quarterfinal. Photo by Kirk Smith.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She knew UCCS coach Sian Hudson, then assistant coach of the\nwomen\u2019s soccer team, while they were both at CC. But when Muir transferred to\nUCCS, she didn\u2019t even consider playing soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI figured that part of my college career was over, and I\nwas prepared to just be a student,\u201d Muir said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now finishing her senior season playing defense for the\nMountain Lions, Muir is thinking about taking her soccer career to the next\nlevel \u2013 playing professionally in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife happens, so that could change,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the\noption is there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast, athletic and left-footed, Muir has won RMAC Defensive\nPlayer of the Week three different times this year, started in all 20 of this season\u2019s\ngames and set a career high of four goals and three assists, including one\ngame-winning goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when asked what her greatest strength is as a player,\nshe responded, \u201cMy work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a typical team captain,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not the\nloudest. I\u2019m not what they call a \u2018rah rah\u2019 captain. I lead by working the\nhardest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Muir disappears into a group hug after winning the RMAC semifinal versus Westminster. Photo by Kirk Smith.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes they\u2019ll call me a workhorse on the field,\u201d she continued.\n\u201cI like to practice exactly how I\u2019ll play in the game. I\u2019ll be willing to make\na tackle, put my body on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muir\u2019s focused approach is balanced by the more exuberant leadership style of her co-captain, midfielder Tarah Patterson ’21. After an undefeated season, the Mountain Lions\u2019 winning streak came to a close through a shutout loss to Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Tournament. Both players had work to do to help the team recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some ways, it was a good learning experience to have\nright before the [NCAA Tournament] game on Sunday,\u201d Muir said. \u201cWe had to figure\nout how to move forward, reflect and regroup. It\u2019s almost like starting a whole\nnew season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she prepares for the tournament \u2013 and life after\ngraduation \u2013 Muir is staying true to her philosophy: it\u2019s all about balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Muir races to defend the net against opposing players from Black Hills State. Photo by Kirk Smith.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After graduating this May, she\u2019s interested in playing\nprofessionally for a team in Europe. She wants to travel, and she would love to\nplay soccer while she still can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the only time in my life that I\u2019ll be able to play\nsoccer,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m 50, I won\u2019t be able to say, \u2018Yeah, I think I want\nto go pro!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 But she\u2019s open to a\nchange of plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether or not I end up playing professionally, I\u2019m\nplanning to go to medical school \u2013 as long as I get in, that is,\u201d she said,\nwith a quick smile.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muir plans to join the Air Force as an officer, then pursue\nmedical school to take advantage of an opportunity to receive a full-tuition\nscholarship, with books and expenses paid for so long as she spends time in the\nfuture working as an Air Force physician. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Muir and Patterson receive the regular season championship plaque from RMAC Commissioner Chris Graham before the start of the RMAC Tournament. Photo by Mark Reis.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She would not only be following in the footsteps of her\nbrother, who is in his third year of medical school and on track to become an anesthesiologist.\nShe would also be following in her dad\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy dad is retired Air Force, and growing up, I had access\nto all of those benefits,\u201d she said. \u201cAs I think about starting my own family,\nI would want to do it for them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even as she thinks about her future career, balance is top\nof mind. Muir is conscious that a practicing physician\u2019s hours can be long and\noffer little in the way of work-life balance. She\u2019s considering practicing\ndermatology, which has fewer emergency scenarios and might offer more in the way\nof flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the promise of a pro career in soccer hovers just\nover the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to say, \u2018This is exactly what I\u2019m going to do with\nmy life,\u2019\u201d Muir said. \u201cAnd now that I\u2019m about to graduate, I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m open\nto whatever!\u2019 It might be med school. It might be soccer, then med school. I\u2019m\nopen to anything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing is for sure. Whether the Mountain Lions win or lose during the NCAA Tournament, and whether she chooses soccer, or the Air Force, or med school \u2013 or maybe all of the above \u2013 Muir\u2019s future is looking brighter every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Muir slaps the hands of her teammates before a 2-1 victory against Colorado Christian University. Photo by Kirk Smith.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Captain of the top-ranked women’s soccer team Aleesa Muir ’20 shares her plans for the future – from the Air Force and med school to pro soccer and traveling the world. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":117189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,25],"tags":[53,93,86,106,60],"class_list":["post-117171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-athletics","tag-academic-affairs","tag-athletics","tag-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences","tag-department-of-biology","tag-student-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Aleesa_Muir-5.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-utR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117171"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117272,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117171\/revisions\/117272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}