WSOC: STOPPAGE TIME

In My Words // Pascale Dumesnil

By Washington Huskies

July 23^rd, 2018

My name is Pascale Dumesnil, I am a rising senior at UW majoring in Finance. I grew up in San Diego, California with soccer at every corner. My dad has always been a big soccer fan and played his whole life. I started playing at the ripe age of 5 years old on a local rec soccer team. As a kid, I was very active and played lots of sports, but my passion for soccer always outshined everything else.

Throughout elementary and middle school, soccer was central to my life. I played every lunch in our dirt field with and against mostly boys. When I was starting high school, I switched from a premier team, where I played with a nationally-ranked team called Carlsbad Elite. Although it was a 45-mile drive from my high school, Carlsbad Elite allowed me to play at the highest youth level and exposed me to various colleges. Fortunately, University of Washington coaches scouted my games and invited me to tour the campus on an unofficial visit.

After visiting UW, it was an easy decision to commit and join the Husky family. Everyone I met made me feel at home even though the cold and green Pacific Northwest was out of my sandy and sunny element. I was impressed with both the academic and athletic opportunities offered by this institution.

Coming in as a freshman, I was extremely nervous and intimidated to fit into the new college mold and compete in the prestigious Pac-12. Despite my fears, I adapted well and was able to get significant minutes throughout the entirety of my first season, culminating with a starting position in the NCAA tournament and even scoring a goal. Overall, we had a good season and I felt excited to build upon the progress I had made.

Going into my sophomore year, I was training hard and getting fit, eagerly awaiting our report date. Nevertheless, I tore my hamstring. This injury impaired my summer conditioning, but fortunately I was able to make it back for the first preseason game. Though yearning for a great team season, instead I experienced many bumps in the road with my fitness and overall consistency. We fell short that season and I was disappointed with my own personal performance, expecting more from myself. As that season finished, we knew we had lots to fix and worked feverishly through winter and spring with a common goal that we needed to do better. Just as I felt like I was getting into the swing of things, I partially tore my other hamstring. I was devastated to experience another setback. I was scared to repeat the same season and anxious not to disappoint myself, my teammates and my coaches.

In the turmoil of recovering from another injury, I had the privilege to go to Costa Rica for a community service trip with other UW athletes. We built a sports court for an underfunded community within the city of Matambù. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I could have been offered so far at UW. We stayed with host families for ten days and worked 12-hour days, rain and shine. We dug and picked at the plot of land to level it and then mixed and poured the concrete. The locals helped us throughout this process and their gratitude and hospitality was staggering. The people of Matambù maintained a lifestyle of “Pura Vida”, which translates to “pure life”. Although they do not possess many material goods, they are rich in their sense of community and love for the simplicities life has to offer.

As much as I enjoyed being a part of the Costa Rican care-free and positive attitude, I found it difficult to communicate directly. However, when I played soccer with the local boys I felt the cross-cultural connection. Soccer had consistently connected me to people around my city, state and country, but had never extended across international borders and cultures. Soccer is known to be a “universal language” and after having this experience, I felt that to be true.

While playing with the Costa Rican villagers, I realized that I was the only female to join the game. Later on, Jackie Mynarski, a UW associate athletic director, told me it was really important that I played with these boys. She suggested that it allowed little girls to see that women can excel in sports too. That exact moment profoundly impacted me. I realized how privileged I was, as a woman, to play at the highest level. I am so grateful to have this opportunity, knowing that it isn’t the case in a lot of other countries. Soccer can bring more than just blood, sweat and tears. It can bring unity and social change. Through something as simple as a pick-up soccer scrimmage, I was taught how lucky I am and how I should never take advantage of the opportunities I’ve earned. Furthermore, I learned how much progress can still be made to create a more equal and inclusive environment.

These lessons were compounded again, just this last spring as I traveled abroad with my teammates, this time to the beautiful country of Japan. For the first six days, we explored its rich history, then we had the chance to play soccer with Japan’s premier college team. Waseda was one of the best soccer teams I have ever played against. Although they were not exceptionally fast or big, they understood the game like no other. Whereas their technique and movement was impeccable, their prowess on the ball was truly amazing. As we spoke to members of the team through a translator, I learned that none of these phenomenal athletes had scholarships and that they were an entirely self-funded team. Furthermore, they had to use the equipment and facilities at the discretion of the men’s soccer team. This was so different to US women’s college student’s privileges and once again, it made me appreciate how much I have as a student-athlete at UW.

Throughout my career here at UW, I have learned many important lessons, enjoyed the camaraderie of traveling and gained life long friendships with my teammates and Husky soccer family.

I have been training hard this summer to end my collegiate career with a bang. I am looking forward to leave my mark and having a great season as a team. I want to thank everyone that has supported me on this journey so far and I am certainly a Husky for life.