WORKING HER WAY TO THE TOP – MF MONROE
MF has done well in life. She has played midfielder and attacker for the US Women’s National Soccer Team and has nine caps. MF also played Professionally for a few years and played college soccer at UConn before transferring to UCLA.
She has been on the NSCAA Division I College All-American four times, something that only about twenty players have succeeded with in the entire country. MF is a hard worker, always has been and always will be. She points out two things as being her strengths as a soccer player.
“I was very fit and very technical. It was hard to get the ball away from me”, she says and smiles.
MF was born in New York and grew up on Long Island. With three older brothers and one twin sister, she was part of a big family. Laughingly she explains that her mom and dad liked middle names. MF’s twin sister Jean-Marie does not abbreviate to JM though. She goes by Jean.
“I came from not much, growing up. Financially we struggled. We were always the scholarship kids, and we were incredibly lucky that we had a club that supported us. That allowed my sister and I to go to college and get our degrees.”
MF picked mathematics as a major with the dream of becoming a teacher.
“I love math, but when I transferred to UCLA, I changed my major to sociology. I thought sociology would be good in the coaching world. Also, by switching my major I could finish in time and go on to play professional soccer.”
The extraordinarily successful soccer journey started with a twin sister doing what a sibling does best, teasing. The sisters were around eight at the time and Jean was into soccer. MF was not.
“She was the one who played first, she was a goalkeeper. She made fun of me and that’s why I wanted to play”, says MF and laughs.
No coincidence that when asked to describe herself she picks words as competitive, determined, and hardworking. Especially the latter. She learned her work ethics from her parents.
“My dad worked two full time jobs when I was growing up, and he still came to my games when I was playing at college level. Sometimes he would fall asleep in the stands. He was a foreman on the railroad on the New Jersey transit, and worked as a janitor for a post office. Mom worked hard too, as a nanny. There were always about ten kids in the house when I was growing up.”
At each step of her journey, MF worked hard, sending her ultimately to the top of the game.
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