Neighbors: I’ve been absolutely loving it. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to join. The girls have been so welcoming.

WSN: Sonia Neighbors is a junior on the women’s soccer team who just transferred to NYU from the University of Miami. 

Neighbors: My class schedule’s a little rough to be honest, but it’s an adjustment. I’ll get used to it, but I’m enjoying everything so far. 

WSN: Originally from Montclair, New Jersey, she’s been playing soccer since she was four years old, and this move is bringing her closer to home. 

You’re from the area, but have lived in Florida for two years. What was that adjustment like coming back and going down there originally?

Neighbors: I actually really loved my time there. I think it was nice to go far from home for a little bit — kind of spread my wings, get out of my comfort zone. So I’m really glad I had that experience. I think the soccer side of things was also, you know, there were some rough aspects to it, but I think it taught me a lot and it gave me a lot of discipline. So I wouldn’t change anything about it.

WSN: When you decided that you were transferring and you were looking at schools, was NYU pretty high up on that list? Did it tie into growing up nearby? How did you decide?

Neighbors: I think, actually, the fact that it’s so close to home made me very hesitant to consider it because I do like the idea of being out of my comfort zone for college, being a young adult, having that independence. But I came and visited when I was in the transfer process, and being here just felt like such a perfect fit. After I visited, I just knew. And I’ve been really excited since about the program and all the opportunities here, sports and school-wise. 

WSN: How has the transition been coming from that UMiami program and now being here at NYU?

Neighbors: There’s a big difference in, I would say, the playing styles of the team. It’s been a lot of fun for me as an attacker. At Miami, we were an underdog. In the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) we were playing some of the top programs in the country, and because of that, there was a big emphasis on defending and tactics. 

There wasn’t a lot of room, I would say, for individuality. So coming here, it’s been really freeing to be able to incorporate some of the things that I think made me an asset or can make me an asset. I would say like dribbling is probably a big part of my game. Here, I have more freedom to do that, whereas there it was kind of a more rigid system. So I think from a soccer perspective, it’s just been so much fun.

WSN: In terms of team dynamics and getting to know the girls, you have already been killing it on the stat sheet, so I’m curious how those relationships that you’re building tie into that.

Neighbors: We’re a very new team. There’s 33 girls on our roster, and there’s 13 that are fully new to the program. So I think it’s been kind of a learning curve the first few games, and I’ve definitely seen the evolution of the relationships on the field from the first game until now. 

And I think we’ve developed a lot of learning each other’s tendencies and figuring out how to work with each other’s strengths. Also having trust off the field and being close as friends has really helped them build that trust that is helping us give each other moments to shine on the field. 

Our four captains are awesome, and I think they each kind of have their individual role — like four legs of a table. They’re each like carrying their own weight in equally important ways on and off the field. There’s just great leadership. I think they bring a really strong, healthy team culture.

WSN: Have you noticed coming from a D-1 school any differences in the resources available to you? NYU has been really building up their student athlete spaces, but how has that transition been?

Neighbors: Honestly, I think the resources here are equal to, if not better than, the resources at a lot of D-1 schools. I mean, you walk into Paulson, the athletic center, and I was blown away, I’m trying to not pull my phone out and take pictures of it. It’s just so cool. It’s a very well-funded athletic program, so we’re lucky to have a lot of those privileges. I mean, honestly, the facility, the resources, the little perks are probably better than a lot of what I’ve seen at some schools we’ve visited at my old program. 

WSN: Have you thought about what your future looks like with this big move halfway through your college career? 

Neighbors: I came here and I started preseason. I was falling in love with soccer again, and I was just like, “Wow, I don’t think I can stop playing in two years.”

This transfer process feels like a fresh start. So it’s so weird and scary to think about the possibility of it being almost over because two years goes by like that. 

WSN: When you’ve been playing since you were four, it’s like nothing.

Neighbors: Right, yeah, exactly. Coming into this program, I’ve been really excited about the opportunity to make a really strong run in the NCAA tournament and potentially winning the championship. I think that was something that really appealed to me when I committed here is that this school is high enough in the ranks where that’s a possibility, and I think it just makes the season so much more fun. 

Now, being an upperclassman, I would really love to raise the team morale a bit and be a leader for the younger girls on the team. I remember when I was a freshman and even a sophomore, when I would get positive feedback from older girls — people I looked up to on the field — it meant a lot and it was very impactful. And if I can play that role now as one of the older girls, I would love that.

WSN: That was Sonia Neighbors, a junior on the women’s soccer team, on In the Huddle, a podcast by the Washington Square News. I’m Sidney Snider, deputy managing editor at WSN. Thank you so much for listening.

Contact Sidney Snider at [email protected].