Dreaming takes courage – it bears the potential for failure. Those who dream do not do so blindly because a blind dream is a wish. Dreaming takes patience, planning and persistence.
Those words sound familiar to Brandi Dawson. The Forest Grove soccer phenom has been playing sports for as long as she can remember. She’s played everything from football to fútbol. Growing up, she played for multiple soccer organizations like the Olympic Development Program and Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club.
Every coach she has had, in one way or another, has preached the idea of patience, planning and persistence. So it’s no wonder that Dawson is looking in the mirror with a smile. And a sense of accomplishment.
“It’s exciting to know I’m playing for OSU,” she said on Monday, referencing the letter of intent she signed to become a part the women’s soccer program at Oregon State University in the fall.
Dawson points to her five older brothers for giving her the courage and the drive to succeed.
“They taught me a couple of things – for one, how to run fast,” she said. “But more importantly, [they taught me] determination, hard work, discipline and, above all, never to give up.”
That’s relevant outside the lines, too. Dawson knows that. Which explains why she will graduate from Forest Grove High in May as one of the school’s valedictorians.
“It helps to be that much smarter on the soccer field,” said Oregon State senior Ashley Wood, a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team who met Dawson when the Forest Grove star visited Corvallis last spring.
“Soccer in college is a faster and smarter game. And it helps to be faster and smarter,” Wood said. “[Brandi] is a good player with a good head on her shoulders. She played ODP like me. And ODP players often do well at the next level.”
October seems to be a good month for Dawson. Forget for a moment that her birthday falls on the 13th, and that for most of her life she has piled up gobs of gob-stoppers just two weeks later – not to mention a fair share of cavities. Last October was the turning point in her life as an athlete.
It marked a dream come true. It marked the moment she officially set foot on the Oregon State campus and decided to join Linus Rhode and the Beaver soccer program.
“We met just about all of the players,” Dawson said of her official visit. “We hung out with a lot of the freshmen and some sophomores. I got to know them pretty well. We went to a game, went out to eat a lot and met with the coaches.”
The decision to go to Oregon State was the culmination of a two-year journey. Dawson visited schools she found interesting and received all of her offers at the same time.
“I started looking at colleges sophomore year,” Dawson said. “I didn’t make visits until spring of junior year. I visited Portland State, Boise State and Oregon State and a lot of other colleges contacted me, but none I was interested in.”
She eventually chose Oregon State based on the level of academics the school offered, the coaching staff and playing style of the team. The Beavers play a very tactical and possession-heavy style of soccer, one with which Dawson is familiar.
“I was seriously looking at BYU, Boise State and Portland State. But when I visited Oregon State, I just loved the campus,” she said. “I met a lot of the players – the atmosphere was great and the team was going in the right direction.”
Dawson knows about going in the right direction. Taking steps toward success comes second nature. She was a First-Team All-Pacific Conference selection all four years of high school and earned Forest Grove’s Golden Boot Award her junior and senior seasons – tallying the most goals (16 in 2008, 22 in 2009) and assists (9 in 2008, 15 in 2009) on the team each year.
Her individual accomplishments also helped drive the team’s success, as the Lady Vikings went from a winless league record in Dawson’s freshman season to a second-place finish her senior year. Forest Grove went 14-2-1 last season, including the first state playoff victory in program history, and climbed as high as No. 5 in the 6A State Coaches Poll.
Dawson will arrive in Corvallis this summer to an eerily similar situation. The Beavers, which hadn’t had a winning record since 2005, went 14-8-1 and earned just the second NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship appearance in school history, where they advanced to the Sweet 16.
Dawson had been fielding offers from other schools and turned down a few places offering “quite a bit” in order to play for the Beavers, even though she will be vying with at least 21 other girls for 11 starting spots.
“Practice starts in July, I think,” she said. “It will be difficult, but I think I’ll be able to handle it. I’m not dreading it too much. There are going to be a lot of girls. It will be nice to have a big roster. It will challenge me and I’ll get to know a lot of people.”
She still has a few more months of high school left, though, including track and field season and club soccer this spring. Tuesday morning at 4 a.m., she hopped on a plane to Barcelona with the help of some local businesses’ donations.
“The trip is for our club team,” Dawson said. “We are going over there to play the teams in the area and take some tours because Barcelona is very soccer oriented. Barcelona is the most celebrated team in the world.”
The team plans to take in the Barcelona-Osasuna game today. Perhaps Dawson will pick up some tricks from Lionel Messi, much like former Oregon State player Jodie Taylor once picked up tricks from watching Thierry Henry.
Dawson can use those tricks against her teammates next fall, as a few other local club players have signed on to play at other Pac-10 schools. While she couldn’t confirm where certain players chose to go, she mentioned at least one will be playing at University of Oregon starting in 2011.
“I’m looking forward to that. It will be fun,” she said. “I like soccer and I like competition. I want to keep going with it.”
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