Her older brother introduced this month’s Senior Spotlight athlete, Mia Suchora, to the sport of soccer when she was just five-years old. By the time she played on her first soccer team, the
Wyckoff Recreation Kinder Kickers, she knew soccer was something that was very special to her. Fast-forward thirteen years and now the senior standout is preparing to don a “Tribe” uniform and play collegiately at the College of William and Mary. Her time on the Ramapo Girls Soccer team, both as a player and as a leader, has helped to prepare her as she takes her next step in her soccer journey.
Suchora began her high school career on the varsity squad as a freshman scoring thirteen goals and amassing three assists. She then hung up her Raider jersey for her sophomore year when she played for the NYCFC Development Team. Returning to the Ramapo soccer pitch as a junior, Suchora netted twenty goals and tallied fourteen assists. Her senior season was unfortunately shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that did not stop the soccer star from scoring twelve goals and connecting for six assists.
In addition to being a prolific playmaker for the team, Suchora also served as one of the senior Captains. Of course, due to the restrictions in place the senior’s final season as a Raider looked quite different from previous years. Commenting on the altered season and schedule, Suchora offered, “This year was definitely challenging. We were very behind compared to previous years. We did not have any Captains’ practices over the summer and our first practice was at the end of September.” Had the restrictions not been in place and the team was not subjected to a shut down, the playmaker believes the team would have won a state championship.
Suchora thrives in the center mid-fielder position because it is there where she makes connections on the field and sets up plays for her team members. She explained, “I love having the responsibility of defending but also attacking. Winning the ball for my team and then distributing it up the field is very rewarding. I am the type of player that loves to start the play, and watch a teammate of mine finish it.” Suchora’s clear enthusiasm for the team and it’s success is evident in the way she views her responsibility on the team and the way she describes her role as a team member.
According to Suchora, Ramapo Girls Soccer has not only helped her become a better soccer player, but it has helped her grow in a number of other ways as well. She elaborated, “Ramapo Girls Soccer has taught me so many important lessons and given me some of my best friends. Being in the newspaper with my team every week since we are the number one team in our bracket was so rewarding. Wearing our jerseys on game days wasn’t even a question. We were proud to wear them and it got us excited for our game later that day. It also got school spirit up that our peers would be at our game.”
As Suchora looks forward to her freshman year at William and Mary she is thrilled to be attending a college where she felt at home from the moment she first visited the campus the summer before her junior year. She intends to incorporate her favorite subject, mathematics, into whatever major she eventually chooses. Suchora is looking forward to becoming a member of the William and Mary “Tribe” spending her college years in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Suchora offered some advice to the young players who are currently running and kicking around that joyful Kinder Kickers’ field she played on so many years ago, and who also hope to one day play soccer in high school and beyond, “I would tell young players who aspire to be on the Ramapo Girls Soccer team to work hard and have a positive attitude. Putting in 100% effort into anything you do will give you a positive outcome.”
Even though this season was not what Suchora or her fellow seniors had hoped for in their senior year, the senior Captain was enthusiastic about her experience stating, “ I am extremely grateful I had a senior season at all due to the circumstances. I enjoyed this year so much and I think the senior Captains were amazing role models for the upcoming players.” Certainly, Mia Suchora’s positive attitude, superb soccer skills and team-centered enthusiasm will carry her far as she prepares to step on the field at William and Mary.
Soon enough Mia Suchora will become a member of the William and Mary “Tribe”, but she will always be a part of the Ramapo Raider family./im
