These are busy days for Waubonsie Valley junior Taylor Ahmadian.
Ahmadian operates in a world of constant and whirling motion as a two-sport athlete — in the same season. She plays soccer and runs track simultaneously for the Warriors.
“I thought it would be really fun to do something I have never done before and experience something new,” she said.
It was nothing new Friday for Ahmadian as she scored her team-best 11th goal for the Warriors in a 6-0 victory over Providence in the final game of the Plainfield Classic.
Ahmadian has already scored multiple goals in three different games for Waubonsie (4-4-1, 0-1-0). She has scored at least one goal in seven games and also has four assists.
At the conclusion of the soccer game, she made the trek to Naperville North to take part in the long jump at the Gus Scott Invitational. She’s in her third year on the varsity for track.
That experience has only accentuated her burst and an elite ability to create separation for getting shots off from anywhere on the field in soccer.
“Track has been extremely beneficial for soccer,” said Ahmadian, a sprinter and jumper who has run the 100 and 200 meters and the sprint relays. “I think my speed over the years has improved and has helped me to maximize my technical abilities.”
Working closely with girls soccer coach Julie Bergstrom and girls track coach Dave Gowing, Ahmadian has worked diligently to strike the right balance between the two sports.
Track has helped to develop her speed, explosiveness and power. Soccer has helped with her balance, footwork and body control.
This is also Ahmadian’s first year of playing high school soccer after being exclusively with Eclipse Select, a Northbrook-based club program.
She followed the course of her older sister Ainsley
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, who is now a standout junior on the women’s soccer team at Harvard. Ainsley attended Waubonsie as a student but elected to concentrate on club soccer.Taylor took the same route in each of her first two years. Some familiar faces have helped her assimilation to the high school team.
Junior midfielder Eleanor Oster is a team captain and a former club teammate who played with Ahmadian at Eclipse.
“I have never seen her get down on herself or her teammates,” Oster said. “I believe this mentality contributes to show how elite a player she is by always being able and willing to try new things on the field.”
In that way, Ahmadian has surpassed all expectations, according to junior defender Zoe Evans, who’s also a team captain.
“What makes Taylor elite is her belief in herself,” Evans said. “She’s a very technical player who believes she can beat anyone. She is an offensive catalyst on our team, and no one is stopping her.”
The 5-foot-6 Ahmadian blends size, power, skill and elite speed.
“Taylor has quick feet, a willingness to run at players with pace, and she knows how to finish a ball,” Bergstrom said. “She also has great vision and technical abilities for a perfectly textured pass to her teammates.”
Her sister provided the road map. But in taking up the sport at age 6, Taylor Ahmadian tapped into something vital and direct while building her own persona.
“We used to play together all the time, and every time she would practice, we’d always do it together,” Ahmadian said. “I tried a lot of different sports as a child, but nothing really suited me that way.
“I started playing more and practicing and realizing my abilities. I just fell in love with it.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.