Nothing is going to stop Erica Owens, anything from A to Y

She really is the girl who can do anything she put her mind to. She does everything from dance, to music, making friends and being the life of the party. But for Erica Owens, she found her passion in playing soccer.

Owens grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah in the Sugarhouse area with a loving family and a passion for being the best, and working hard for it.  

“She’s super competitive,” Owens childhood friend Clara Toronto said, “and just naturally good at everything she tries.”

Since she was a kid, Owens had played soccer recreationally, and played competitively all the way up to college. When she got into high school she decided to continue her love in soccer and tried out for the team, and of course made it.

At Highland high school in Salt Lake, she was the star goalie all the way to her senior year, winning awards in the athletics department, and on the side making the varsity basketball team, not even having any background in basketball. Owens was the student body vice president, involved in Madrigals and still made time to keep practicing soccer.

When she decided to play soccer it was during her senior year, “I’d already had a bunch of offers (from different colleges). Yeah once people started convincing me to do it with schooling I was like ‘why not?’”

Owens got offers from schools like Stanford, Notre Dame, Boston College and local universities as well.

“I didn’t ever want to play keeper. I stick with keeper because I definitely not meant to be a forward. I’m tall, I’m just better at catching things,” Owens said.

When she decided to play soccer in college she would practice for hours every day. What inspired her to work so hard was knowing that she had a team relying on her, and that she had to do her job.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Owens said, “Even if that means putting in extra time.”

She decided on BYU, and was the star goalie for the women’s soccer team while working on her degree in exercise and wellness.

“There were points every single practice where I thought it wasn’t worth it, it’s hard to keep a positive mindset,” Owens said talking about the struggles of being a student athlete, “You don’t feel adequate as a freshman, but I just had to keep pushing through, and it was in the end definitely worth it.”

Owens graduated from BYU in 2014, becoming the face of the BYU women’s soccer team. She hopes to continue her field in soccer, but for now she works on what she earned with her degree as a personal trainer, helping people to be as fit as she is. But she still has dreams of becoming a professional soccer player.

“There’s rumors of (Salt Lake’s) Real’s premiere women’s team going pro and I think I’m going to try out for it. By think I mean I’m going to definitely try out.”