Kya Jacobs’ work has paid off.
The soccer success story has climbed the ranks and has committed to play Division 1 soccer this fall for the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds, a school of roughly 14,000 students located in Cedar City, Utah.
“It was actually a pretty quick turnaround with this school in particular,” the 17-year-old Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School student said, adding it took a week from sending in her highlight video to the phone call that she’s been waiting for.
Jacobs has come a long way from the days on the sidelines as a kid, her and the family pulling up chairs to watch her mother play summer soccer.
“You’re watching grown women at the time playing,” she said, thinking of the inspiration she drew from those moments. “You want to be them.”
Jacobs latched onto athletics at an early age. She had quite the influences as well.
On top of watching mother Carly Wiseman play the game she loves well into adulthood, she also had her stepfather Chad as inspiration.
"She's an all-around athlete, which is obviously important, and her focus hasn't just been on soccer," Chad, the former NHLer and Guelph Storm head coach, said. "She played boys hockey growing up, she was into dance and other activities. She's very committed to being an athlete, and she loves it."
"It's just part of who I am," Jacobs said.
When she got to Bishop Mac, Jacobs' commitment to athletics grew further, playing everything she could.
From the ultimate Frisbee team, to captaining the field hockey team, co-captaining the school volleyball team and even dabbling with badminton during the fall.
During the warmer months, Jacobs is usually taking on track and field.
This, on top of playing for the high school soccer team, and her club team on the side.
“It’s definitely been quite the journey,” Jacobs said. “You have moments where you think about taking up another sport. It’s hard to quit one sport for the other.”
“But ultimately, I always had soccer as my number one priority. Nothing can beat it in my mind.”
It seems she made the right choice.
"The commitment that she has shown to her craft, and the drive and passion to continue to make sure her grades are where they need to be to accomplish what she's been able to accomplish," Chad said. "The commitment and sacrifice that she's put in over the years to get this opportunity, we couldn't be more proud as parents."
She was playing for Cambridge United, but in preparation for her first NCAA year, Jacobs has decided to return to the club where her dream of a D1 soccer scholarship began, the Oakville Blue Devils. It's a move she considers a full-circle moment.
“They treat their players like pro players, and in turn, we play like pro players,” she said. “I’m definitely excited to come back around to the place I started, and have them push me into the next step in my soccer career."
Jacobs plays striker, so she’s the one counted on to finish plays and score goals.
“You’ve gotta have that tenacity, you have to have the skill to put the ball in the back of the net,” she said. “Regardless of if you’re on the ball or not, you have to find a way to get it, and make use of anything.
“It’s never going to be that perfect shot with nobody on you, so having that tenacity to get the ball and whatever ball you get, you have to use it.”
Her ability to read balls in the air on crosses, her technical skills with her feet, her speed, her drive to score and attack all combine into who she is as a striker.
And going to Southern Utah, Jacobs is looking to put her best foot forward in a new environment, adjusting to a new level of play as a student-athlete – with teammates and opponents who could be as much as five years older than her – and living on her own for the first time.
“They’re going to give me the tools to succeed, but I have to be the one to use them, and to work for them,” she said.
“They obviously want me to score goals. But they also want me to just be a well rounded soccer player, and to be a good teammate and a good person.”
