This is an article in Sporty Seniors, a bi-weekly column celebrating M-A senior athletes’ dedication to their sport.
“I have wanted to get recruited, pretty much since I was in third grade,” senior June Wagner said. Wagner has played on M-A’s varsity girls soccer team all four years and is committed to play at Whitman College in the fall. “Both of my parents played collegiate sports, so I knew I wanted to play in college, and I had a really big drive to do that,” Wagner said.
“My mom played, and I was trying out all different types of sports,” she said, describing why she started soccer. She began playing club soccer at four, and kept returning to the sport for the people. “I have a really good community through soccer, not just with my club team, but when you get selected for national camps or national teams, or like regional teams. There are all these different ways to get to know [people], in the area and in the country, and that’s just very unique and special,” she said.
To improve her skill and play at the highest level possible, Wagner had to forgo many typical childhood experiences. “I had to sacrifice really early on. For example, Halloween in elementary school. I didn’t really experience that just because our coach wanted us to be at practice every day,” she said.
Wagner trained extensively in elementary and middle school. “I went to a super competitive club just to be able to get the best training possible in the area,” she said.
In middle school, Wagner began playing water polo during COVID because her passion for soccer was waning. ”I was struggling mentally with soccer, like I was basing a lot of my worth off of my performance in the sport. So I needed to take a step back,” she said.
The summer before her freshman year, Wagner attended Two Rivers Soccer Camp, which she credits for fostering her love for soccer. “I started playing soccer when I was little, but it didn’t become a passion until I went to Two Rivers,” Wagner explained. “My counselor, Erin, wrote my letter of recommendation [for college] this year. We became super close because she treated me like a person before a player.”
Wagner also cherishes the connections she made with the other players at the camp. “I met my best friends there, it was a big group of guys and girls throughout the West Coast, and we’re still friends after the experience. Everyone supported each other in everything. I really felt like I belonged and had confidence,” she said.
Two Rivers revived Wagner’s love for the sport and encouraged her to continue it through high school. “I also just had fun with soccer, challenging coaches, and playing against much older guys was always a fun obstacle. I carried that feeling of confidence and belonging back to my club team here, and that’s when my skill and performance started kicking off,” Wagner said.
At M-A, Wagner began on varsity as a freshman. She also became quick friends with another freshman on varsity that year, Mae Kunihiro. “It was really fun, because I was with one of my friends, Mae Kunihiro, and we both were scared at first, but it ended up being a really good experience,” she said. “We were one of the most successful teams.”
In her freshman year, the team advanced to the state competition and were runners-up at CCS.
Wagner enjoyed her time as an underclassman on varsity. “As a freshman, I didn’t expect anything, and I really learned to keep my head down, work hard, and have fun,” she said. “The seniors were extremely nice and inclusive, and a lot of them I consider my role models.”
In her sophomore year, Wagner decided to only play for her club team so she could focus on getting recruited. She looked at a variety of schools before landing on Whitman College. “Even though I went on visits to both Division 1 and Division 3 schools, I had to find the right place for me and where I would be happy.”
“Both of my parents played collegiate sports, so I knew I wanted to play in college, and I had a really big drive to do that,” Wagner said.
Wagner continued to concede her free time in high school while working toward recruitment. “I’ve sacrificed pretty much, like every Friday night, every weekend I’m traveling in junior year, and I think I missed like 30 days of school going across the country for visits, camps, everything,” she said.
“I didn’t know what I wanted for a really long time,” Wagner said. “I thought I wanted the biggest name brand, the highest level, or the furthest away. It wasn’t until I went on visits that I realized I wanted to be on the West Coast at a school that was financially realistic. I got almost a full ride to Whitman, and I get to go to law school a year early.” Through a 3-3 dual degree program in partnership with Columbia Law School, Wagner will have the opportunity to attend Columbia Law after three years at Whitman.
Wagner’s decision to pursue law came down to her experiences playing club soccer. “I want to be a lawyer because I’ve dealt with a lot of hardships and inequality within soccer from club and college coaches, so I want to go into sports and entertainment law to prevent that from happening to anyone else,” she said.
She returned to playing high school soccer her junior year and again enjoyed representing M-A. “I got a lot more minutes [to play], and it was fun just being back with the team,” Wagner said. Though she injured her hamstring halfway through the season, which prevented her from playing, Wagner recovered in time to play for the team’s final few games that year.
In her final season, Wagner has realized her love for the team lies in her care for the other players. “It’s really special because I get to play with my younger sister, who’s also a freshman on varsity, and it’s just been really fun and so special,” Wagner said. “We’ve put all this time into this program, and there are a lot of us, and we’re all really close.”
Wagner’s advice to other athletes: “You have to really put in the work if you want to be a collegiate athlete, or even if you want to be successful in your sport. A lot of people will say they want to play in college, or say they want to be on varsity, but they’re playing a lot of other sports, or they’re not putting the time in. You have to really devote a lot of your time, and it does get to be really mentally draining, but when you have like-minded people around you, it’s easier.”
