Featured Athlete /// Willow Spurling, Calvary Lutheran
Willow’s Willing to Work for It
Story By: Chris Rogers, II Photography By: Calvary Lutheran HS
She began playing soccer after her mother established that Wil- low and her four brothers needed to pick up a sport to burn energy. playing at Parks and Rec.”
The beginnings of her athletic endeavors were not easy for the young Spurling. Willow says she was far from the best player on her team at liking for the position. It was at this point that the groundwork was laid for how she would attack obstacles in the future. enced, I practice on my own to be able to be better than I was the year before.” Mention as a forward.
Meet Willow Spurling.A senior at Calvary Lutheran High School, and an All-American in the essence of hard work.
“Athletic success comes purely from hard work. Day in and day out,
far, and besides, hard work is much more admirable,” says Spurling. Willow lives out her hard work mentality in a myriad of settings. Her school drama program, Future Teachers of America, the Math Team, and Counseling Advisory Program. Her hard work in the class- room has earned her membership in the National Honor Society.
ment in Advanced Art, Old Testament, Computer Applications, Spanish 1, Desktop Publishing, and Service Leadership,” Spurling says. While establishing hard work in many places in life, Willow’s heart “My favorite part in soccer is when the games are at night: the
solid concentration, the sound and feel of my feet biting the ground, and the sound of my heavy breathing trying to sustain me.”
80 /// November 2024 “My teammates and coaches are relying on me to give everything I
have, even if I’m worn out. I will give them whatever passes, shots, options, or coverage I can. I would rather grind through practices and games, even when it hurts, than leave my teammates without an option.”
Despite her love for the sport of soccer, Willow has interests that “Doing art is a joy in my life. I love drawing realistic art with medi- ums such as watercolor, graphite, and pen.”
Willow comes from a unique family structure. As mentioned be- fore, she has a twin brother. She also has three older brothers who are triplets. She credits them with challenging her competitively. Willow says her parents provided their children with key princi- ples for their future.
“My mom and dad are both very involved in our family, and look to
my older brothers left for college, we all worked on our family farm and learned to work hard.”
With the work ethic and faith that Willow’s parents have provided
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