Growing Into Their Roles on the Pitch

There are no guarantees in transitioning from a star high school student-athlete to excelling at the collegiate level, especially in the SEC. Being the star of your high school or club team doesn’t guarantee success at the next level, and every student-athlete has his/her own journey towards earning a spot on the field. For South Carolina’s coaching staff, it’s a process of recruiting, evaluating, and developing.

“We truly don’t know the impact a player will or will not have right away when they get here,” said women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith. “In the recruiting process, you have an idea of the elite level players that will be able to have an impact right away. You have a lot of other players that have to figure that out.

“We don’t ever promise kids that they’re going to start. We leave it up to the players to understand that there are opportunities here for them, and they need to work. Some may start, some may have to earn some time behind senior players. We prepare them, and we’re here to develop them. Not everyone’s path is the same. We have all the resources to help them improve. It’s all about how they accept that role and how much they push themselves.” 

Senior Jyllissa Harris, junior Camryn Dixon, and freshman Megan Spiehs illustrate the point that a willingness to improve, learn, compete, overcome adversity, and sometimes be humbled, are all a part of that process.

For Spiehs, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that the Hilton Head native ended up a Gamecock as she had attended soccer camps at South Carolina from the time she was eight years old all the way up through high school.

Megan Spiehs

“My dad came here for graduate school, and my brother is here, too, so when I was little this was sort of our family school,” said Spiehs, who has come off the bench in the first three games this year. “I always attended the overnight camps. When it came to the recruiting process, this was always in the back of my mind because of all the camps I came to as a kid. I’ve known Shelley and (Associate Head Coach) Jamie Smith forever, so when I was thinking about recruiting, this was always the top choice.

“Getting used to the speed of play at this level is a challenge. Another thing that I had to get used to, was all the tactical stuff. I’m not really used to paying so much attention to the tactical aspect. I’ve been learning a lot.”

Dixon was a big-time goal scorer for a club team in her native North Carolina that was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country. As a freshman, she started five games and came off the bench in 16 other contests before becoming a regular starter the last two years.  

“I came in a semester early, which was nice, so I could get used to the speed of play,” Dixon said. “The biggest thing for me was the speed of play and understanding the style of play that was required for me to get on the field. I did come into this program with a very humble mindset. I knew that everyone here was great. I tried to work my way in and grind and hope for the best.”

Now in her fourth season, Harris has started nearly every game of her career, but that doesn’t mean things came easy for her.

“When I was being recruited, I wanted a school where there was going to be an opportunity for me to compete, but knowing I had to work more,” Harris said. “My expectations were met in that I knew I had to work hard and that it wasn’t just going to be given to me. When I did earn that spot early on in my freshman year, it was made very clear to me that I was going to have to step into that role, and I couldn’t act like a freshman and not know what I was doing. I was expected to be a leader in some ways, even though I was only a freshman.

“You go from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond, and that transition can be difficult. It can be unexpected at times. Luckily I had a good bunch of seniors and juniors at the time who took me under their wing who helped me sort out some things and make the adjustment so I could perform the best I could.”

“You see them develop and really become a different player through their four years, which is our goal for everybody.”
– Head Coach Shelley Smith

Each has had the experience of going from being a star on their respective high school or club teams to being on a team of former high school or club stars, which means they may be playing a different role.

“It’s a big adjustment and it’s kind of intimidating,” Spiehs said. “You have to transition your mindset to thinking I may not be playing for 90 minutes and doing everything. I may only play for 20 minutes, so you have to give it your all and learn from everyone else who has been here. It’s definitely humbling.”

“In year one, I was in the process of learning college soccer,” Dixon said. “I definitely came in with a lot more confidence my sophomore year, knowing how everything worked. I’m always learning, but now I’m also teaching younger players, which is so cool. It’s definitely a new role for me, but I’m very excited for it.”

Camryn Dixon

“I was definitely humbled coming in here,” Harris said. “I was shown mistakes in film or things would be pointed out to me in practice that I used to get away with in club, but you can’t get away with in college soccer. I learned very quickly how to drop those habits and adopt some new ones.

“I think most of all, I’ve improved my confidence on the field. As I’ve gone through these previous three years, I’ve learned that I have to be sure of myself all the time. Second-guessing will only make me late to plays or miss tackles.”

Spiehs prefers to play the midfield, and Smith said she could play there or elsewhere. The key is getting a chance to get on the pitch, even if it’s at a different position.

“I like being the center of the field,” Spiehs said. “There’s more space and you’re able to create more in the middle of the field. Any time I can get on the field, I can adjust to any position. That’s fine with me. I’ve always been pretty versatile.”

Harris played midfield the first two-plus seasons, while Dixon was a forward in her first season. Out of team necessity, both had to switch to defense last year, but they still found success.

“I think I’ve improved tremendously since I first stepped on campus,” said Dixon, who scored a pair of goals as freshman and adapted to stopping opponents from scoring last year. “I’ve worked really closely with Jamie Smith, and he’s helped me so much in that process. He’s made it almost seamless. That has  been a very big part of my development. It was definitely tricky at first, but we sat down and evaluated the skills I had to offer. He thought I was best fitted, and I also thought I was best fitted, to play outside back on this team. We went over a lot of film and worked a lot on practice, and it was a good transition.”

“I used to be a holding midfielder, and there are some similarities between midfielder and center back, but the back line has a totally different mental aspect of the game,” said Harris, who has been named to one of the All-SEC teams each year of her career. “As a defender, if you mess up once, it can lead to a goal. That was something I really had to get used to. You have to be locked in a lot more. Luckily I had leaders around me, and the coaches were great in showing me film to break down the mechanics of being a center back.”

As each navigates the different highs and lows of their athletics career, they lean on advice they’ve learned from players that came before them.

“Some of the best advice I got when I came in as a freshman was that I just have to go out and play,” Harris said. “You can’t go out there and be timid or nervous. If you do that, you’ll end up hurting yourself and the players around you. That’s what I tell the freshmen now. They’re here for a reason. They just have to show what we know they can do and play to the best of your ability instead of trying to play perfect.”

“I think the best piece of advice is, always be willing to learn and remember why you play because our time is limited here,” Dixon said. “It goes by super-fast. You have to ground yourself and realize you have four years, and maybe some time after that to play, so you have to make the most of it and enjoy what you do. I’ve definitely been passing that along to the younger players.”

“I’ve learned definitely not to take things personally,” said Spiehs, who was coached as a camper by former Gamecock All-American and future Canadian National Team goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo. “Everyone here is here to make you better and make you realize your full potential. Taking criticism is a good thing so you can grow. When we’re working the little kid camps, I’m literally thinking, that was me a few years ago! So, stepping on the field here now is great.”

“The players that see the challenge and knew that there would be competition here to compete against, to push players ahead of them and try to earn time, you see them develop and really become a different player through their four years, which is our goal for everybody,” Smith said.