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You either have it or you don't.
Nobody plans on raising a child to become a star athlete (those who try, usually fail). When adopting Hayley at just a few weeks old, parents Laura and Neil Brock weren’t thinking about that. They just wanted a little girl of their own.
Having adopted a son two years earlier, the Brocks opted for a daughter.
“There was an advantage to adopting because we could sex specify,” Laura Brock explained, “Of course Hayley didn’t turn out the typical frou-frou pink ribbons girl that one might have expected.”
From a young age, Hayley Brock seemed to have a knack for sports, so Laura and Neil signed her up early and often.
“We always knew that Hayley was a great athlete,” her mother said. “She’s very fast. I remember when she was a little girl and she was racing around the track. She was already halfway around when the other girls were not much past the start and she stopped because she thought she was doing something wrong.”
Image
Photo courtesy of the Brock family.
Having an older brother who also played sports set an example for Hayley.
“They’ve always been very competitive with each other,” Laura stated, “they play basketball in the backyard or shoot on each other occasionally. There has always been a real sibling rivalry athletically.”
But of all the sports she tried, soccer seemed to be the one to stick for Hayley.
Now 15, Hayley has already achieved numerous awards for herself. As just a sophomore she was winner of the 2007-08 Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year and has earned First Team All-State and First Team All-New England honors this past fall. She scored 24 goals and had seven assists this past fall, leading her Acton-Boxborough Regional High School team to the Division 1 state championship.
In addition she competes for the U15 Stars of Massachusetts (2006 Regional Champions and 2007 Region I Premier League Champions) and participates on the Massachusetts and Region I ODP teams.
After listing all her accolades, her mother joked, “I don’t know where she got it from. I can assure you that neither my husband nor I can play soccer.”
A 5’10” forward with speed and strength to burn, Hayley poses more than her share of matchup difficulties for the opposition.
“She’s tremendous. She’s an athlete, but there’s a lot more to her game than that,” Stars of Massachusetts director of coaching Jason Dewhurst said. “At a young age her talent had lot to do with her physical presence, but recently she has been becoming technically and tactically a much better player.”
He described the Region I Premier League final in May of this year as a moment that stood out in his mind about Hayley.
“We were in Delaware playing PDA of New Jersey. Hayley scored two goals within five minutes,” he stated, still sounding impressed that she managed to pull that off.
“A lot of people know about her and they sometimes man to man mark her but she has gotten a lot smarter and does not get as frustrated as she used to,” Dewhurst noted, “She is very good at receiving the ball under pressure.”
“I am better at finishing breakaways than shooting from outside the box,” Hayley said. “I know that I can beat people by speed and I know that goalies don’t have that much foot skills so I take goalies on. I don’t just stop and shoot it.”
Although always improving upon her game, her work ethic is something that doesn’t need much work.
“She works very hard and I know that her coaches have always tried to bring her along,” Laura stated. “Her coach is very gifted and has been able to bring out the best in her.”
“Hayley is not a kid that toots her own horn,” Laura explained. “That’s not to say she’s not confident, but she sees where she fits on the team and knows that she needs the other players.”
With the help of her coaches and the support of her parents, Hayley seems to have a lot ahead of her.
“My parents are really into it,” Hayley said, “they love it, they really enjoy soccer and had no prior knowledge of soccer before I started playing.”
Constantly traveling to soccer games and tournaments can be a large financial burden for Hayley and her parents, but they have been doing the best they can in the hopes that it will pay off in the future.
“It is very difficult, there’s no question about that,” Laura said. “We drove from Massachusetts to Dallas last year for the national championships because it was cheaper than flying. We often send her off to places by herself to save some money.”
In her free time, as infrequent as that may be, Hayley keeps busy with other activities. Each year she participates in Relay for Life, an event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. She has been a soccer buddy for a younger team for the past two years and referees community basketball games. She played basketball for much of her life but had to quit freshman year of high school to devote more time to soccer. She plans on joining the high school team again this year, but is prepared to face the consequences of missing practices for soccer.
“I’m going to try out for the high school team this year,” Hayley said. “If I miss practices, I would just have to be benched for a game and deal with the punishment, but soccer comes first. I’ll take the consequences.”
With much of her time devoted to soccer, Hayley plans to continue playing soccer for as long as she can. She has begun speaking to college coaches, but is keeping her options open.
“Everyday I get phone calls from top college coaches,” Dewhurst said. “She’s very highly sought. She’s a product that many coaches want and many schools want.”
“I see myself in the next few years playing at a Division I college,” Hayley stated. “If I’m lucky enough to continue playing after college that would be great.”
But for right now there are other things on her mind.
“We just want her to be happy. She’s still young and doesn’t know what she wants yet,” her mother concluded. “Her goal right now is to pass her driving test.”
You either have it or you don't.
Nobody plans on raising a child to become a star athlete (those who try, usually fail). When adopting Hayley at just a few weeks old, parents Laura and Neil Brock weren’t thinking about that. They just wanted a little girl of their own.
Having adopted a son two years earlier, the Brocks opted for a daughter.
“There was an advantage to adopting because we could sex specify,” Laura Brock explained, “Of course Hayley didn’t turn out the typical frou-frou pink ribbons girl that one might have expected.”
From a young age, Hayley Brock seemed to have a knack for sports, so Laura and Neil signed her up early and often.
“We always knew that Hayley was a great athlete,” her mother said. “She’s very fast. I remember when she was a little girl and she was racing around the track. She was already halfway around when the other girls were not much past the start and she stopped because she thought she was doing something wrong.”
Image
Photo courtesy of the Brock family.
Having an older brother who also played sports set an example for Hayley.
“They’ve always been very competitive with each other,” Laura stated, “they play basketball in the backyard or shoot on each other occasionally. There has always been a real sibling rivalry athletically.”
But of all the sports she tried, soccer seemed to be the one to stick for Hayley.
Now 15, Hayley has already achieved numerous awards for herself. As just a sophomore she was winner of the 2007-08 Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year and has earned First Team All-State and First Team All-New England honors this past fall. She scored 24 goals and had seven assists this past fall, leading her Acton-Boxborough Regional High School team to the Division 1 state championship.
In addition she competes for the U15 Stars of Massachusetts (2006 Regional Champions and 2007 Region I Premier League Champions) and participates on the Massachusetts and Region I ODP teams.
After listing all her accolades, her mother joked, “I don’t know where she got it from. I can assure you that neither my husband nor I can play soccer.”
A 5’10” forward with speed and strength to burn, Hayley poses more than her share of matchup difficulties for the opposition.
“She’s tremendous. She’s an athlete, but there’s a lot more to her game than that,” Stars of Massachusetts director of coaching Jason Dewhurst said. “At a young age her talent had lot to do with her physical presence, but recently she has been becoming technically and tactically a much better player.”
He described the Region I Premier League final in May of this year as a moment that stood out in his mind about Hayley.
“We were in Delaware playing PDA of New Jersey. Hayley scored two goals within five minutes,” he stated, still sounding impressed that she managed to pull that off.
“A lot of people know about her and they sometimes man to man mark her but she has gotten a lot smarter and does not get as frustrated as she used to,” Dewhurst noted, “She is very good at receiving the ball under pressure.”
“I am better at finishing breakaways than shooting from outside the box,” Hayley said. “I know that I can beat people by speed and I know that goalies don’t have that much foot skills so I take goalies on. I don’t just stop and shoot it.”
Although always improving upon her game, her work ethic is something that doesn’t need much work.
“She works very hard and I know that her coaches have always tried to bring her along,” Laura stated. “Her coach is very gifted and has been able to bring out the best in her.”
“Hayley is not a kid that toots her own horn,” Laura explained. “That’s not to say she’s not confident, but she sees where she fits on the team and knows that she needs the other players.”
With the help of her coaches and the support of her parents, Hayley seems to have a lot ahead of her.
“My parents are really into it,” Hayley said, “they love it, they really enjoy soccer and had no prior knowledge of soccer before I started playing.”
Constantly traveling to soccer games and tournaments can be a large financial burden for Hayley and her parents, but they have been doing the best they can in the hopes that it will pay off in the future.
“It is very difficult, there’s no question about that,” Laura said. “We drove from Massachusetts to Dallas last year for the national championships because it was cheaper than flying. We often send her off to places by herself to save some money.”
In her free time, as infrequent as that may be, Hayley keeps busy with other activities. Each year she participates in Relay for Life, an event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. She has been a soccer buddy for a younger team for the past two years and referees community basketball games. She played basketball for much of her life but had to quit freshman year of high school to devote more time to soccer. She plans on joining the high school team again this year, but is prepared to face the consequences of missing practices for soccer.
“I’m going to try out for the high school team this year,” Hayley said. “If I miss practices, I would just have to be benched for a game and deal with the punishment, but soccer comes first. I’ll take the consequences.”
With much of her time devoted to soccer, Hayley plans to continue playing soccer for as long as she can. She has begun speaking to college coaches, but is keeping her options open.
“Everyday I get phone calls from top college coaches,” Dewhurst said. “She’s very highly sought. She’s a product that many coaches want and many schools want.”
“I see myself in the next few years playing at a Division I college,” Hayley stated. “If I’m lucky enough to continue playing after college that would be great.”
But for right now there are other things on her mind.
“We just want her to be happy. She’s still young and doesn’t know what she wants yet,” her mother concluded. “Her goal right now is to pass her driving test.”
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