Legowski gets a leg up on UEFA soccer

Marek Ludkiewicz, Staff Writer

Not long ago, a member of our little Macduffie community had a big opportunity.  Freshman Ala Legowski was invited to take a plane trip across the Atlantic to play for her father’s country, Poland. She had been to Poland before; this time, however, she took the exhausting trip knowing she’d be competing in a UEFA tournament representing Poland, which is a huge honor. UEFA is the highest possible level of competition in Europe for the sport, and the development tournament called up Legowski to the under-17 national team. Legowski was extremely nervous, which is expected, but after meeting her fellow teammates she settled into a more comfortable role.

She stayed in Lublin, in southern Poland, to train and play with the girls. Legowski said that the first couple trainings were very hard and very serious. Girls within the team were competing against each other to be selected for the starting eleven. After her games, however, they received time to roll out their sore muscles and to relax a little while those who were not selected to be a part of the starting team continued to train. Ala is, as we might guess, a talented and hard worker; her coaches saw this as well, earning her a starting spot.

Before games the team listened to a lot of pump-up music in the locker rooms and on the bus to amp up the players. Legowski’s opportunity in Poland to play in such a high tournament, also lead to lasting, across the globe, bonds of friendship. She made several friends while playing, and misses them very dearly, although she believes that in August she might be returning to play in a qualifying tournament and can possibly see those teammates again.