Murphy – It has been a busy summer for Lady Bulldog Catalina Barreiro.
The rising senior is looking to play college soccer and has been traveling throughout the Southeast to play in front of coaches. She was part of the West team at the annual BodyArmor State Games at Cary in June, then attended prospect camps at Jacksonville University, East Carolina University and the University of Alabama.
It hasn’t been the easiest experience so far, but Barreiro has appreciated going through the recruiting process.
“Even if I don’t get recruited, it’s been a really good experience to go out and play in front of so many coaches, and just be able to go to different places and see how the coaches play and how they coach,” Barreiro said. “It’s frustrating, but it’s also a really great and fun experience to be a part of, for sure.”
Barriero started playing soccer when she was 4 years old. She has lived in five different states, as her dad served in the military before retiring and settling in Cherokee County.
She mainly plays on the defensive end of the field, though last year she saw some time at midfield to help the Lady Bulldogs be more connected from one end of the field to the other. With soccer not as popular a sport here as in other areas, it can be challenging to get the attention of college coaches.
Soccer recruiting is done mainly through travel and club teams, and there aren’t any travel or club teams close to Cherokee County. Barreiro said her family looked for programs when they moved here, but the closest were in cities like Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn. Coaches tend to congregate at big club tournaments because they can see a lot of players in one place, so not playing for one drastically reduces the opportunity to get noticed.
To get her name out, Barreiro has put together highlight films, contacted coaches of programs she’s interested in and attended prospect camps. Since those camps are expensive, Barreiro chose three school camps to attend.
She had drawn some interest from the Jacksonville coaching staff before going to the camp, but visiting the campus she didn’t see the school as a great fit for her. Barreiro doesn’t just want to go to school to play soccer, but is interested in going down the pre-med track and eventually becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
“I still need to have a pre-med program at the school,” Barreiro said. “If a school doesn’t have that I totally knock it out just because soccer is great but … it’s not going to be what I’m going to do for a long time.”
Though it hasn’t been the easiest path, Barreiro said she has continued to call and email coaches of schools on her radar. Between now and the next soccer season in spring 2023, she’ll play volleyball this fall and continue to hone her skills. Barreiro, who also ran track and was a kicker for the Murphy football team last fall, said playing all three sports help make her a better athlete.
In volleyball, you need to see the entire court, similar to what’s needed in soccer. She was a sprinter in track and field, which helped with her burst of speed, but also how to slow down. For football, getting reps kicking the ball allowed her to increase her leg strength. As the soccer season gets closer, those skills start to come back as she begins to focus on the sport again.
On the pitch this past spring, Barreiro said she grew as a leader, helping a team where she and sophomore Lailee Holloway were the only ones with a lot of soccer experience. That leadership is just something else she can build on, as she works toward her goal.
She has received contact from smaller schools across various levels, but former Murphy coach Kim Brownlee thinks she can aim bigger.
“Cat’s a better player than small schools,” Brownlee said. “She can do a lot more, I really believe it.”