Player Spotlight: Katelyn Dimopoulos

Katelyn Dimopoulos couldn’t find a better way to spend her Friday night. The junior scored the lone goal in their victory against Middle Tennessee Sept. 17.

“I haven’t scored in like a year. It feels so good to score.” Dimopoulos said.

Having been on the soccer field her whole life, Dimopoulos has had her fair share of winning goals. Coming from a soccer family, it wasn’t a surprise when young Dimopoulos discovered her love for the sport. She’s been dribbling soccer balls for as long as she can remember. And frankly, she would love to dribble soccer balls for the rest of her life.

“Both of my parents play soccer. They each play in their own adult leagues at home. My brothers play, too. And my dad coaches a girls soccer team. We love soccer,” she said.

But then again, everyone in Dimopoulos’ hometown loves soccer. Dimopoulos is from Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, where soccer culture thrives. It was her love of soccer that lead her to choose Mercer as her new home. Getting the chance to be a member of the Mercer Bears soccer team has been one of the best decisions of Dimopoulos’ life.

“Mercer soccer is a family,” she said. “I don’t mind spending every day with them.”

As reigning SoCon champions, Dimopoulos and her teammates have to spend quite a lot of time together in order to maintain their title. She says this year’s motto is, “Repeat,” as a reminder. During the season, she has practice about four times per week with additional workouts and two weekly games. The off-season for Dimopoulos usually consists of more practices, more lifting, and more conditioning.

“I’m always sore. That’s soccer life,” she said.

As someone who has such a natural competitive spirit, Dimopoulos admits that her favorite part of practice is when her coach divides the team into smaller groups to play each other. She loves the challenge, and she loves having a tough coach that pushes her to do better.

She’s also motivated by the young girls she coaches at home. She and her dad have been coaching minor league soccer for several years. To Dimopoulos, these girls are family. One of the best parts about going home is getting the chance to go to their games and support them.

“They remind me why I play soccer,” she said.

In addition to her busy life as an athlete, Dimopoulos enjoys being with family.

“I’m a mama’s girl, for sure,” she said.

On occasion, she likes to paint, draw, hike, and watch professional soccer. However, as a mechanical engineering major, she spends a great deal of her free time studying. She prides herself as being a member of the Society for Women Engineers on Mercer’s campus.

Not only has Katelyn Dimopoulos proven herself exceptional on the soccer field, she’s become a role model for young girls and a shining example of a student-athlete.