When Grace Smith talks, people listen.
Smith is a senior on the St. Hubert High School soccer team, and as a veteran leader on the team, she has the ear of her teammates.
But nobody listens to her as much as her nieces Scarlett and Kinsley.
The two girls, both 2, are cousins, and they are the best thing in Smith’s life.
“I do spend a lot of time with my two nieces, they bring me a lot of joy,” said Smith, who lives in Port Richmond. “They made me change as a person, become more mature. I try to be the fun aunt, and we do have a lot of fun, but they’re still young so we can’t do much. They’re only 2, so we can’t do a lot of fun things yet.
“One lives with me, but I spend time with both of them. So we’ll go for ice cream or to the park. Just play with them. They come to some of my soccer games. The big ones, they come to. I’ll see them, they’ll yell for me. I love having them there. I always have fun with them. They’re always fun to be around.”
Smith is having plenty of fun this fall, and it’s not just because of her sisters’ kids.
A lot of that is because of how much success the Bambies are having.
Smith came in as a freshman and was one of six starters from her class. Four years ago, things were looking up for the team, but they were very young so growing pains were expected.
They weren’t easy.
“We were pretty good, but not as good as we wanted to be,” said Smith, who plays center back. “That year we had a lot of younger players, and we knew we had some good players, and good upperclassmen, but we were young and it’s hard when you’re younger.
“It was our first year playing high school soccer and the girls were bigger, stronger, faster and had more experience. We did OK, we weren’t bad, but we had to fight. It’s hard when you’re playing against older kids, but we did our best.”
The best not only kept the Bambies competitive in the PCL, but set the stage for bigger things ahead.
Those bigger dreams came to reality this year when St. Hubert finished in second place in a very crowded and competitive Catholic League.
“This year was a big outcome for us because it’s the last year for a lot of girls,” said Smith, who helped Hubert finish 7-2 in PCL play. “We have been progressing through the years. We were always good, but freshman year, we had so many young players coming in. Now we’re all playing better.
“This year has been great. I think it’s the experience, but I also think it’s the chemistry. We have really good chemistry. When I got here, I really didn’t know a lot of the girls. I knew of them from soccer, but I didn’t know them. Now, we’re not just friends, we’re best friends.”
It started with the players, but Smith also credits the coach with the team’s success.
Shawn Wimsey, who was the junior varsity coach a season ago, took over for Jeanette Graziosi-Hibbs when she stepped down after last year.
“We’ve been really lucky, we have the same coaches the past three years, but we just have a new head coach, but he was our JV coach and we love him,” Smith said. “He’s been nothing but great. He put in so much work, he makes it fun for us and he makes games fun. He works with us at each practice, and helps us. It impacts us as a whole team. He’s a very good coach and a great person.”
He also has the girls studying the game.
Perhaps he has them preparing to take his job.
“We scout a lot of games, that’s fun,” Smith said. “Our coach will tell us where and when games are, and sometimes we’ll go to watch our opponents. We try to see what they do, it helps. We know who is good. I like doing it.”
That could help her next year, when she’s playing college soccer, which is her goal. Where and what she’s going to study remain undecided.
Wherever she goes, she know she’ll have plenty of support behind her.
“I think my mom is my biggest supporter, she never misses a game,” said Smith, who also plays flag football. “My dad, too, but he’s a firefighter, so it depends on his work schedule. I’m very close with my family and I spend a lot of time with my friends. I think I’m a good friend.”
A good friend to a lot more people over the past four years.
That’s because she made so many new friends since arriving at Hubert. Her decision to attend the school has been life changing in the best possible way.
“The past four years have been the best part of my life,” Smith said. “Everything about the school and the soccer team. It makes you feel so welcomed. A really good sisterhood. I’ve met a lot of my best friends there. I really didn’t know many, I knew a few. I knew of people, but now they’re my best friends. I’m so close with the team. Soccer, too, it brought me closer to a lot of the girls.
“I’m really proud of what we did with the team. We’re doing great. It’s something we always wanted, we wanted to keep getting better and keep going further. We are going for the plaque. I’m really proud.”
