Women’s Soccer

Junior defender Julietta Thron spoke to The Daily about her experiences as a soccer player, including the college recruiting process and her favorite moments on the pitch. This story is the first installment of the Why I Play series, where Wildcat athletes talk about why they love their sports and how they got started.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

The Daily: When did you first develop a passion for soccer?
Thron: It was when I started playing club. I saw there were many good players and realized if I wanted to be good, I had to take time to practice and dedicate my life to this.

The Daily: What was your recruiting process and decision to attend Northwestern like?
Thron: My recruiting process was exhausting. To think about my future and where I wanted to go three years before I knew what I wanted to do with my life caused a lot of anxiety. At the same time, I enjoyed it because I got to talk to people, meet great girls and coaches and see schools I’d never thought about. I started to think about what I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with soccer, so it forced me to grow up.

I wound up narrowing it down to Michigan and Northwestern. I stepped onto Northwestern’s campus and something clicked. I realized I wanted a better education. I wanted to set myself up for success after athletics because soccer is amazing, but there is so much I want to do after soccer. Northwestern was the place to get that ‘after.’

The Daily: Who is your biggest inspiration as an athlete?
Thron: As I grew up and started watching soccer more, one person I looked to was Julie Ertz. I’d see what she would do because she is so aggressive and that’s how I am. I love to fly off the handle and slide tackle, so watching her motivated me to go the extra mile, practice a little longer and go out and juggle.

The Daily: What has been your biggest struggle with soccer?
Thron: The biggest struggle has been the feeling of not being good enough or not succeeding in ways I thought I could. Understanding that failure is part of the process to success has been hard for me, especially because in middle school and high school, I was always the best player on my team. Coming to college and having to start at the bottom and work my way up was hard because I had never felt like that before.

The Daily: What has been your favorite experience with soccer?
Thron: My first college game was a positive experience. We were playing Purdue and it was the first time I’d been on the field with my teammates and it was incomparable to any situation I’d ever been in. We also played a game against Mizzou and we were in overtime, and one of my teammates hit an upper-ninety shot and we freaked out. It was one of the most pure, happy moments.

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