My twin sister Olivia and I are only sophomores but we were fortunate enough to verbally commit before the NCAA implemented their “no contact until after sophomore year” rule which came into effect May 1, 2019. What this means is, if you didn’t commit before May 1, you would need to wait until June 15th after sophomore year. Not that big of a deal, especially when most coaches recommend waiting until Junior year anyway. However, my sister Olivia and I had always worried that we would have to split up if we couldn’t find two spots on a roster.
After many years of support from my parents, training hard and trying to get in front of our favorite college coaches, it all came down to this single day. April 30th, the last day of early verbal commitment ... Our 16th Birthday.
So the day had come. 16 years after my parents left the hospital to bring us home, we were about to find out where we would now call home in 2021. It was an amazing day filled with a roller coaster of emotions. Scary to think that our question of “What if...” that we asked over the last two years was possibly going to be answered. And by the end of the best birthday ever, many ID camps and endless phone calls, Coach da Luz and Coach Poole were confident enough to make Olivia and me part of their family at our top choice, Wake Forest University.
It was a humbling experience to be offered so many congratulations and support from everyone. Even our new amazing Demon Deacs squad had welcomed us to their team! My dad said “this is your 15 minutes of fame ... until you get out on the field and create your 90 minutes of fame. BAM!” He suggested we use the new title (The DeMarinis DeMon DeAcons.) Lol.
Well, now is not the time to take it easy. 2021 will be here sooner than we think. Playing ACC soccer is an intimidating thought for anyone. Olivia and I plan to take full advantage of these next two years. Upping our game by training harder with our incredible Club Coach Patrick Baker, the ODP Regional Team and now Weston DA! So exciting. D1 here we come.
-Nadia DeMarinis.
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