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WELLNES
Outstanding Athlete and Scholar Halee Barker:
The Sacrifices and Commitment By Bryce Lynn Greene Born and raised in St. George, Halee Barker found her passion for soccer at the early age of three. Being the sister to three brothers who are also athletic, Halee’s mother remembers when she was just starting out on the field, and was naturally much more aggressive than the other players. Learning from her brothers, she would often do things she thought to be the game of soccer, but that other parents would complain about. She depicts that the culture and community gave her “the basics,” but she soon recognized that if she really wanted to be a competitive player and take soccer to the next level, she would need to get more serious. For the past two years, Halee has played for the very prestigious and competitive Elite Clubs National League, a decision that requires a significant amount of dedication and sacrifice as a player. Heat FC, Hailees club team in Las Vegas, has mandatory study sessions in between games and practices and emphasizes the importance of About the Author academics in the process of attending the school of their dreams as collegiate soccer players. Halee attributes a An aspiring journalist majoring in Communications large amount of her success to this program, along with her loving and supportive family and coaches. Her family and Media Studies at Dixie and roots here in St. George have played a large role in determining where she wanted to spend the next four years State University, Brycelynn of her life after high school, a decision Halee would be making much sooner than most of her peers. After many comes from a rich Native American background. As a campus visits and consideration, Halee has verbally committed to play Division 1 soccer for the University of Utah journalist, she hopes to cover in 2019, where she will be only a 4-hour drive away from home. contemporary social and Although Halee is grateful and excited, looking forward to all that is in store, she acknowledges that she could cultural topics. not have come this far without hard work in and out of practice. Despite traveling up to three times per week for practice and nation-wide games, Halee has maintained a 4.0 GPA as an honors student for the past two years at Dixie High School. This has meant learning to utilize every opportunity for study time, such as two-hour car rides to and from Las Vegas. The ongoing travel has also meant time away from friends and missing the opportunity to create treasured high school memories. While most students got to use this spring break as a time to get away from their responsibilities, Halee used the time to focus on her skills as a soccer player. Giving up the opportunity for a family vacation, Halee chose to prioritize her opportunities and attend a Player Development Program, in which she was selected to attend from a pool of out of 200 players from the states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. From a young age, Halee dreamed of getting a state ring, just like her siblings before her. However, playing elite club soccer meant she was not permitted to play high school soccer, which meant giving up one dream in exchange for a bigger one. In the future, she plans on qualifying for the University of Utah’s honors program and excelling in the sports medicine field with hopes of becoming a physical therapist to athletes like herself. In meeting, interviewing, and getting to know Halee Barker on Wednesday, March 8th – otherwise known as International Women’s day – one thing was very clear to me. To Halee, there is no “secret” to success; it takes hard work, dedication, and commitment to reach your goal. And when you reach your goal? You use it to build an even bigger dream. St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2017 89