And this was the inaugural tournament?
It was the first-ever Women’s FUTSAL CONCACAF tournament. CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. There were nine teams, and the top team qualified for the World Cup. We are the first ever champions, which makes it even more special.
There’s going to be a World Cup futsal tournament?
Yes, it’s the first ever FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup. It will be held in the Philippines in November/December 2025. FIFA will organize everything—the venues, the stadiums and the hotels. It’s going to be amazing. The top countries will be there: 16 teams and the best players from Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, most of them being professionals.
I’m assuming, as the top scorer in the CONCACAF tournament, you’re going?
(Laughing) They did tell me they would bring me to the World Cup.
You had support on campus to help with everything. How did that work?
One of the advantages of Lehigh is the support I get from all the professors and all the resources—TAs (teaching assistants), mentors, office hours. I had planned a heavy schedule this semester because I honestly didn’t expect all of this to be happening. I had 19 credits, so I had to manage all of my six classes while being away for many weeks. My advisor Christina V. Haden, [teaching associate professor and associate department chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics], Hannah Dailey, who’s the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, and Alexis Rauth, the Director of Student-Athlete Academic Enrichment, supported me in making sure my professors understood my challenges and accommodated me in different ways: having access to the material in advance, meeting with the TAs to learn the content before I left, reviewing what I missed after my return. They allowed me to explore all the resources available and take advantage of them. I’m so grateful to have had their support throughout the semester. It worked pretty well since I maintained my GPA.
