Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1520667
18 WAC Magazine | wac.net living fit meet the athlete / wac soccer teams Meet the athlete Sophie Manum By Joey Carreon Member Sophie Manum was born and raised in Seattle. She played soccer and tennis for Garfield High School. Sophie also grew up playing club soccer for Emerald City F.C., Seattle United, and Northwest Nationals. She enjoyed a four- year career playing for Mount Holyoke University (2014–2018) in Massachusetts, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in computer science. Sophie now plays for the WAC coed soccer team and works for a San Francisco–based software delivery platform. Q. How did you discover your love for soccer? A. rough my grandpa. He would record all the World Cup matches on VHS tapes—which we still have today—and I would watch them with him. I started to play when I was 5 years old and never looked back! Q. Who were your soccer role models? A. Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane. Q. Are there any tennis skills that helped your soccer game or vice versa? A. Tennis helped me improve my footwork for soccer … being able to switch directions quickly and make short sprints. e lack of breaks in soccer helped my endurance in tennis. Both sports are great for hand-foot-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Q. What's the most noticeable difference between Massachusetts and Seattle? A. e cold! ere was snow on the ground in May. Also, I lived in a small college town where our student body made up most of the population. Moving from a big city was a change. Q. Any favorite memories playing for Mount Holyoke? A. Our coach at the time played for the Japanese women's na- tional team. Every four years in August, our team would travel to Japan and play with Jutendo University. It was a wonderful trip! WAC SOCCER Did you know the WAC has coed and men's competitive soccer teams? Both squads practice and compete as Club representatives around the city. To inquire, contact Wayne Milner at wmilner@wac.net. E M I L I O H U E R TA S ( 3 ) u WAC member Sophie Manum plays for the Club's coed soccer team.