After only two years on the Rowan College at Burlington County women’s soccer team, Catherine Miller of Shamong has already made national headlines.
She recently received the National Junior College Athletic Association award for exemplary academic achievement. To achieve this award, student athletes need to have between a 3.60 and 3.79 GPA.
Miller was not the only one recognized on the Lady Barons. In fact, the entire team received awards by the NJCAA in recognition of academic achievements.
The team established a rule that it had to complete a certain number of study hours each week to be eligible to play in games, and that rule proved to be a successful one.
With one of the best GPAs in their sport, the women’s soccer team earned an honorable mention in the NJCAA 2014–2015 Academic Teams of the Year category. It had an overall 3.21 GPA.
“Knowing that the whole team was recognized off of the field is an amazing feeling because of how many hours we spent on the field,” Miller said. “Off the field, we worked very hard with studying and getting our schoolwork done first.”
The team had a number of girls holding down jobs throughout the season on top of being a student athlete, providing them with a firm understanding of “time management.”
Despite the outstanding season they incurred on the field, posting a 12–5 record without losing a single conference game, the girls were able to always put academics first and ensure their success in the classroom before stepping onto the field.
“Being a student athlete is definitely challenging, but it has helped me grow as a person because I have to juggle soccer, school and work at the same time,” Miller said.
Cammy, as her teammates call her, was shocked when she heard the news that she would be receiving the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement.
“I know that I’m the type of person who has to study and take a lot of time out of my day for my school work if I want to succeed,” Miller said. “I’m very pleased that I did so because receiving this award shows that hard work really does pay off.”
The Lady Barons were also awarded the sportsmanship award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Ethics Committee in the beginning of 2015.
This award is based on the number of penalty cards a team receives during regular season and playoff games. The team recorded zero red cards and only two yellow cards the entire season to earn a silver-level sportsmanship award.
“Getting the sportsmanship award felt great. A team doesn’t have to play dirty to win. We played fair and we played the game right,” Miller said.
As far as the future goes, Miller recently graduated from Rowan College at Burlington County with her associate’s of science degree in criminal justice and will be attending Stockton University in the fall.
“My personal expectations for myself are to keep up with school and strive to be the best that I can be,” Miller said.
In regard to the team, their high expectations for the upcoming season will not tamper their academics-first mindset.
Losing some players and acquiring the incoming freshman class will certainly shake up the team chemistry. However, Miller alluded to the fact that the girls understand that expectations don’t win games and they cannot discuss potential until this new team learns to play together.
She enjoyed every step of the ride with her teammates and will miss taking the field with them next year.
“My favorite aspect of being a part of this team was just meeting the people that I did along the way,” Miller said.
Her next goal is to obtain her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a concentration in Homeland Security, planning to eventually get her master’s in Homeland Security as well.
After all of her schooling is completed, Miller will be going into the academy to be a state trooper.
