Harley Morland recently signed with Meridian Community College for both soccer and softball.
She is excited about playing both sports for the college while working on her degree.
“I’ve been part of the softball program since I was a seventh grader, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve won the state championship three times between fast pitch and slow pitch. I started being a starter when I was a ninth grader. I’ve seen the weakness in the program and the strength in the program, and I’m very grateful for where I am now. For soccer, I’m very grateful to be part of the new beginnings that we have here. He has worked very hard to get us where we are now, and I’m excited to see what the future has for them. I can’t wait to see them at camps,” expressed Harley. “I’m very excited for the opportunity to be able to play both sports because I’ve always been one that cannot sit still for very long. I have to be active. I’ll be doing soccer in the fall, and I’ll also be training for softball while I’m doing soccer and training for soccer while doing softball. I’ll be doing a business degree. Then, once I graduate from there, I’m going to open my own cosmetology shop after I go back for cosmetology to help include people like my brother who have disabilities.”
Her soccer coach, Tucker Italiano, is proud of her accomplishments and how she played soccer since the school started up its soccer program two years ago.
“We’re really proud of Harley for this accomplishment. It’s a really big deal for her, not only because she’s signing a letter of intent for college and going to get a great education, but she’s also going to do it for two different sports. That’s a very big deal because most people don’t get the chance with one sport,” declared Coach Tucker. “In addition to that, we’re really proud of her because not only was she the leader of our program and made the Mac All Star game in the second year of her ever playing soccer. She was also our leader and helped elevate our program to heights that most people didn’t think that we could reach. We played 15 games this year and had 11 wins against a very good schedule. I think that she laid the foundation and helped show how a great leader and athlete and person should go about her business for the younger players.”
Like with soccer, Harley has been an amazing softball player. Hunter Swart, the head coach, has enjoyed seeing Harley grow and see her determination when practicing and playing.
“One thing about Harley that makes her a special talent is her ability to work. She’s not afraid of it,” proclaimed Coach Hunter. “Since I got here, one of the first things I would do in our third block would be to run our miles. Her goal was always was to beat her mile that she had beat her previous time. Going into our first year, she had gotten down to about 6:15 miles, and that’s really impressive. That just talks about how hard she’s willing to work. If you ask her to do anything, she doesn’t hesitate to do it. She’s extremely knowledgeable to the sport, and that’s what makes it easy for her to be coached. I think that’s what makes great athletes great players.”
Coach Hunter is also proud of her character in general and knows that it will help her get far in life once she graduates and is off on her own.
“As a person in general, she’s fantastic to be around. She is vibrant. She’s loud. She has a great personality—or a huge personality actually,” informed Coach Hunter. “She lights up a room when she comes in. She really is good to be around. She knows my kids by name, and as a coach and parent, that’s really cool that she takes time to be a part of them. She picks everybody up. She’s a great talent, she’s a great leader, and she’s a great role model.”
Congratulations Harley Morland on signing with Meridian Community College!
