Kelsey Merriman and Landry Franklin are senior captains for Riverside girls soccer. This week, it was announced that both Merriman, an outside back, and Franklin, a winger/forward, had been selected for postseason all-star games.
Merriman was selected for the Clash of the Carolinas match, while Franklin was selected for the North-South game.
GreerNews.com caught up with both Merriman, a Mars Hill signee, and Franklin, a Gardner-Webb signee, on Wednesday to talk about their senior seasons and plans for the future.
Greer News (GN): How excited are you to play collegiate soccer, and how did those opportunities come about?
Kelsey Merriman (KM): I’m so excited. I actually quit club soccer my sophomore year of high school, because I didn’t think I was going to be able to play in college. I didn’t think I’d get the chance. But when my brother [Jack] came home from Mars Hill, he was like, ‘Kelsey, you’ve got to come up here and play soccer.’ So I hopped on it. I went to ID camps, and then Mars Hill called me for an official visit. And it all went from there.
Landry Franklin (LF): Gardner-Webb was a college that contacted me first, and that blew me away. It’s a Christian school, which is what I was looking for. They also have an amazing soccer team and amazing coaches, and all the girls are really close. I just loved everything about it so much.
Greer News: What have been the biggest challenges of realizing your senior year is here and that the season is soon drawing to an end?
KM: I’d say it’s just the fact that I’m realizing time is flying by way too fast; that’s a challenge. We’re playing teams for the last time. The seniors last year told us to take it all in because it’s our last year, and it goes by really quickly. Now I’m here, and it’s starting to really hit.
Greer News: What has been the biggest joy and favorite part of being in your senior year at Riverside?
LF: I think I’m just enjoying spending every moment I can with these people until I have to leave. There are seven of us seniors, and so we’re all making sure that we enjoy it while it’s here and make sure all of the younger girls feel welcome on this team, too.
Greer News: What makes this program so special, and what makes you so close as a team?
LF: For a lot of us, we’ve been playing together for a good while now. We’re always giving each other advice and having each other’s backs. We help each other off the field. And all of our coaches really help with all of that. If we’re having trouble, we can go to them. And as captains, we know how to work things out.
KM: We’ve never been a team to turn on each other or get mad at each other. Sometimes we see that from other teams, and that’s never made sense to us. We feel like we haven’t played a team more tight-knit than us, and that just makes this all so much more fun. There’s less pressure, and we all play for each other. That’s so important.
Greer News: Talk a little bit about the leadership aspect of being a senior. What does that look like as a leader for some of the younger girls on the roster?
KM: When I was a freshman, our seniors were very good at boosting our confidence. They made us feel like we belonged out there. I try to do the same thing, making sure everyone remembers they are out here for a reason. As that leader, it falls on you to lift the girls up and make sure everyone stays close as a team.
Greer News: When did you first fall in love with the sport of soccer?
KM: We moved around a lot when I was a kid, so soccer became something I did everywhere I went. I always wanted to make the top club teams everywhere we were.
LF: I started out when I was really young, but I was playing defense back then. I remember one game when I was younger, I decided I was just going to try and dribble around everyone and score a goal. I juked out, like, three different defenders and took the ball the whole length of the field, and scored an absolute right banger. That’s when I remember really falling in love with soccer.
Greer News: What’s your go-to pregame hype song?
KM: Probably anything from early Justin Bieber.
LF: Yes, definitely old Justin Bieber. We also have this one song we used to play all the time, called ‘Hot Wings.’ It was from the movie ‘Rio.’ We don’t play that one as much anymore, but we used to love it.
Greer News: What do you hope your legacy is that you leave behind at Riverside?
LF: Definitely just being a good leader. Someone you can always come and talk to about anything. Someone who’s always laughing and smiling, trying to crack jokes. Just someone who’s happy and kind.
KM: I want to be someone who never took things too seriously. It’s way more fun if you just take a minute and appreciate everyone around you. I hope I’ve made sure everyone here knows they’re loved and part of a family. Because that’s what this is.
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