Photos provided by Rebeca Lackey

Stockbridge senior Grace Lackey has known since she could barely walk that soccer was the sport for her.

She started kicking a soccer ball before she could run without tripping over her feet and it has paid off as Lackey has signed her Letter of Intent to play at Lawrence Tech University next season.

“It has always been such an important sport in my family because my dad was a goalkeeper his entire life and my uncle played throughout high school as well,” Lackey said.

Lackey was a big reason the varsity girls’ soccer team claimed the Perry Invitational title last week stopping 33 shots in net and helped the Panthers win both games in shootouts to claim the crown.

Most athletes have a specific moment that is their biggest memory, not Lackey.

“My favorite memories from soccer are pretty much every single practice during club season and during high school season,” Lackey said. “I absolutely adore spending time with my teammates and my coaches and just being able to escape reality during the day without worry. Soccer is an outlet for me to wind down and allows me to be able to focus on the things that I love. I spend almost every moment during the day looking forward to and thinking about soccer.”

If she had to choose one a special memory, it happened this season.

 “My most recent and a very important memory from my soccer career is when I received the captain’s band this year to wear,” Lackey said. “It’s so important to me to be a leader to those around me because I love helping people learn and succeed.”

A family tradition is what took Lackey to Lawrence Tech.

“They are a great school with amazing programs and they also have a strong women’s soccer program,” she said.  “My entire family basically had gone there. My sister currently attends for the nursing program and is in her junior year right now. Both of my parents attended Lawrence Tech and my grandfather had taught there for over 40 years and was the head of the math and computer science department for a period of time. You could say it’s in the family.”

Lackey plans to study biobehavioral psychology while also receiving a teaching certification so she can hopefully become a psychology or biology teacher. Her dream is to study neuroscience and brain chemicals so she can understand and learn about cognitive diseases.

With soccer running in the family, Lackey’s biggest influence is her dad, who was also a goaltender. “He’s pushed me my entire life in all of my sports, but especially in my soccer career. Since he’d been a goalkeeper his entire life and was also good enough to receive a few college offers as well, he probably felt the need to lift up my soccer career.”

With the varsity girls’ soccer team having its biggest turnout in several years this season, the sport of girls soccer is growing in Stockbridge and Lackey was asked what she had to say to the future Panthers.

“Keep pushing yourself. Constantly push yourself, test yourself, and create discipline so that when the time comes, you are prepared to perform,” Lackey said. “All sports are like performances; practice makes permanent. When you love the sport so much, everything else will come into place if you work for it.”