Junior Bella Villasana made a verbal commitment to play Division I women’s soccer for James Madison University (JMU) when she graduates from Deep Run in 2027. Excited for this new chapter, she is already setting goals for her future on the field.
“I hope to become successful, earn my playing time, and help the team earn conference titles,” Villasana said.
To prepare for the demands of D1 athletics, Villasana is focused on improving her game. Playing with her club team has been an important part of her growth.
“I’m just gonna keep on playing on my club team. I mean, I’m gonna work even harder and make sure that I’m ready for playing at that next level with older people,” Villasana said.
Over the years, Villasana has played for two different club programs, but she has recently been playing with Richmond United, a well-organized known organization in Richmond that has produced many college recruits. Villasana is hoping to play either forward or winger for JMU.
“I hope to play either forward or winger, because that’s what I grew up playing, and I think that being an attacker is one of my favorite position to make those runs and score goals,” Villasana said.
While soccer remains her top priority, Villasana knows balancing academics is just as important while she finishes out her last two years of high school.
“It’s really just a lot of time management. Having that calendar and writing down all your homework, and making sure you that you’re finishing it either before or after practice, but also making sure that when you’re at practice you’re giving your 100 percent,” Villasana said.
Even with her organizational strategies, Villasana admits that she still has to make sacrifices.
“I mean not having very many extracurriculars, hanging out with friends, clubs and other activities, and other sports is not really in my schedule,” Villasana said.
After all her hard work and dedication, Villasana is ready for this next chapter in her life.
“I’m looking forward to being in college. I think it will be a really fun experience, being on my own, but also being on a team and playing at such a high level and traveling all over the place and playing really good teams,” Villasana said.
