Soccer has played a major role in the life of Tania Antonio, Notre Dame Academy junior.

Coming from a family of soccer players, especially her father who was a “soccer all-star,” she was destined to play.

“My family knew I was going to play soccer even before I was born,” said Antonio.

She also explained that her father works with her a lot to improve her skills as well as her personal trainer, Tommy.

“It gets to be super intense, but it’s worth it because I can see the improvement in myself and it helps me to keep in shape in the offseason. Also, Tommy is pretty hot so it’s worth it,” admits the junior.

Her soccer career began in kindergarten where she played all through elementary school, middle school, and now in high school.

For her freshman season, Antonio played for Preble High School and FC Club Soccer.

After her first semester of sophomore year, Antonio decided that Preble High School was not the best fit for her, so she transferred to NDA for her second semester.

“I felt that I wasn’t pushed to my full potential academically at Preble, so my parents suggested I shadow NDA and I fell in love,” said Antonio.

Unfortunately due to the transfer, this meant that she had to sit out on NDA’s JV team for about the first half of the season and then was eligible to play.

“Going in, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play for awhile, but I also knew that I was at the best school I could be attending to succeed in my academics,” commented Antonio.

Antonio plans on playing on the soccer team again this year and is very excited to play with her teammates the entire season.

In the future, if not recruited by another school for soccer, Antonio intends to attend St. Norbert College in the hopes of pursuing her dream job as a lawyer.