Alex Morgan, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd. These are just a few of the great female soccer players of our generation. For young, female soccer players, they hear their names, they watch them play, and they dream about what it is like to be like them. However, sophomore Camila Montero does not dream about what it’s like to be them, because she is more focused on what it takes to be with them. Montero may be 16 years old and a little over 5 feet, but she has big ambitions at being the next big thing in women’s soccer.

Montero has been playing soccer since she was in sixth grade, and been a part of the varsity women’s soccer program since she was a freshman. Montero has played a big role in the programs success as their leading scorer two years in a row, and she credits it all to her work ethic.

“I work really hard, whether it’s coming back after practice to run drills, or doing stuff on my own over the weekend. I have big goals, and in order to reach them I must work harder than everyone else,” Montero said.

This goal of Montero’s did not manifest overnight, as Montero realized she wanted to play with the big girls the second she stepped on the field.

“I started playing soccer a bit later than everyone else because I had been playing basketball.,” Montero said. “I remember when I stepped onto the soccer field for the first time. In that moment, I realized this was what I was meant to do, and since then I’ve based every decision off the fact that I will be playing soccer as a career.”

With district and state mentions already as a sophomore, Montero has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon.

“I’m going to keep working hard until I get where I want to be,” Montero said. “It’s not really a dream anymore, it’s just something I’m going to do.”