Anna Munro started playing soccer fairly late in the game — at age 9.
However, thanks to her ambition and hard work, on and off the field, the Lisgar Collegiate Institute graduate has landed a spot as a forward on Duke University women’s soccer team, where she’s now a varsity athlete at one of the United States’ top-ranked schools for sports.
Duke University is in Durham, North Carolina and its 26 sports teams compete in NCAA Division 1 athletics. The Blue Devils boast an impressive record of 16 NCAA National championships and 119 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victories; a massive accomplishment for Duke athletics, a university that generates about $76.5 million per year through athletics, according to the NCAA, 2013 Fiscal Year.
“She’s a busy girl, all through her life – school wise and for the sports, all the different ones,” says Shane Munro, Anna’s father. “She just loved them all; that’s the way she is.”
It was the athletic talent and academic triumph that led her to playing the sport she loves at a school she loves, too. Munro says she also owes part of her success to her upbringing in Ontario and her roots at Lisgar. She played on four different soccer teams at club level, playing for the Ottawa Fury, Nepean Hotspurs, and Ottawa South United. At the regional level, Munro was a member of Team Ontario Provincial at the under-14, U-15 and U-16 levels. At the national level, Munro was selected to join the elite Pre-REX national program in 2014.
“Lisgar has a good gifted program and a great reputation for being a good school. There wasn’t an option for me, I was going there no matter what,” the 17-year-old Duke freshman said during a recent interview at Koskinen Stadium, one of the top multi-sport facilities in the U.S., where the Blue Devil soccer teams practice and play home games. The complex pushes a capacity of 7,000 spectators on the bleachers that flank the sidelines of the field.
Athletically, Munro tested the waters of several different sports during her formative years in Ottawa. In addition to soccer, Munro was also a dedicated volleyball player and a multiple letter-winner in track and field, basketball and cross country at Lisgar. Munro received the Lisgar Silver Medal for having an average above 90 per cent during her four years in high school. She was also the valedictorian of her senior class and won the prestigious Lisgar “L,” a school letter awarded for outstanding achievement in school sports and academics.
“It was good that she had had to juggle school, the team Ontario stuff, and the school sports. I think she feels confident that she can manage to do all the different tasks that are required to play a varsity sport down there,” said Shane Munro.
So far, the soccer rookie says she loves Duke University. “I don’t think there’s anything that could be making it better…except for maybe getting more playing time,” she said. In terms of honing her talent, Munro says she works on her technical skills by improving shots and crossing, especially with her non-dominant foot. Munro practices everyday except Monday with two games every weekend, totalling to about 12 hours per week. With just over two months of the Duke experience behind her, the young Blue Devil has an undeclared major, though she is focusing on math and science.
“I just had a really amazing math teacher back in high school, so for now, I’m thinking of majoring in math,” Munro said about Robert Tang, her math teacher at Lisgar.
Like a lot of driven students, most of the pressure Munro feels is self-imposed. She has her hands full with varsity soccer and a demanding academic load, all on top of a blossoming social life. However, Munro’s full plate and athletic successes has set high soccer ambitions. The soccer rookie says she hopes to play for the Canada U-20 and women’s team or the Olympics. “I would love to represent my country on an international scale,” says Munro.