Athlete of the Week: Morgan Clifford

Lily Goodfellow, Sports Writer

Sports: COD Women’s Soccer and Track and Field

Year in school: Sophomore

Hometown: Glen Ellyn, IL

High School: Glenbard West High School 

Lily Goodfellow: Can you please tell me the sports you compete in?

Morgan Clifford: Last year I competed in cross country, soccer and track and field. But this year I am only doing soccer and track because of an injury.

LG: What was your injury?

MC: At the end of July, I went water skiing and I think I just overdid it because I’d been water skiing a lot. I had a bilateral pars stress fracture in my back so I couldn’t do any form of exercise for a month or so until it healed, and then I had to slowly get back into things or it would have caused chronic back pain for the rest of my life if I didn’t take care of it. But I think it was just built up from a bunch of sports from last year and the water skiing put it over the edge. 

LG: What are your greatest accomplishments in sports? 

MC: That’s a tough question. I think maybe being the starter for all fifteen [soccer] games last year. That was a big deal for me because in high school I didn’t play that well. 

LG: Which is your favorite sport and why? 

MC: My favorite sport is definitely soccer because I started playing when I was in kindergarten and I have always chosen soccer over all of the other sports I’ve done.

LG: Did you play club soccer?
MC: I did. I played starting in 6th grade and played for the Wheaton Wings. And going into high school I started playing for Synergy Soccer Club.

LG: How is the soccer team doing this season? 

MC: We’re doing okay. It’s a little difficult because a lot of us are injured this year. So most of us have been underplaying. You’re supposed to have eleven people on the field but we’ve been having nine or ten sometimes, when the other team has a bunch of subs. Some of us are coming back now. I just came back and am on my third game of being back.

LG: How do you balance working, participating in sports and school?

MC: Definitely being in a sport helps. For me, I realize that when I am not in a sport, I tend to procrastinate a lot. So being in a sport helps me balance out what I have to do. I try to get things done whenever I have free time. Normally at the beginning of the week I try to get as much homework as I can done, and then my harder classes I leave for the rest of the week so I can just focus on them and not my other classes. For work, I normally work on the weekends, sometimes Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes just Sunday. After work I do more homework.

LG: Where do you work?

MC: I work at the Chocolaterie Stam in Glen Ellyn. It’s a chocolate, gelato and coffee shop.

LG: Who are some of your role models? 

MC: My role models are definitely my parents. They’ve always shown me balance. My mom and my dad always work out together and we try to eat healthy too. I always see my parents working hard, but also making time for themselves and us as well. So we always spend a lot of time together. My friends say “you’re always spending time with your family” or commenting about how close I am with my family. My friends are very surprised by that. 

LG: What is your favorite class here at COD? 

MC: I think my favorite class I’ve ever taken at COD would be Ethics. I’ve never really seen a class get that close before, like actually knowing everyone’s name and becoming friends just from the class. You didn’t even need to raise your hand. We would actually have conversations as a class, so it didn’t feel like we were just being lectured to.

LG: What are your future goals for school and sports?

MC: Right now I am in the process of looking at colleges to transfer to. My top choice ever since high school has been University of Illinois. I am still looking at other colleges as well, but that’s my top so far. I hope to play a club [soccer] team there.

LG: What do you plan to study?

MC: My major right now is business strategy with entrepreneurship. My goal at the end of the day is to be my own boss and have multiple sources of income. I think it would be cool to get my real estate license, and I’ve always wanted to partner with someone and make an app somehow. 

LG: What one word best describes you? 

MC: I guess kind, because my main goal is to always be nice to everybody. I just don’t like when people are rude to each other. I can’t do that. Even on the soccer field, my friends tell me how I’m always so nice, even to the mean people. I can’t get myself to be mean to them.

LG: Thank you, Morgan!