By Mara O’Hara and Vikram Mathew
Sophomore Emily Longo is widely renowned for her amazing talents and character on and off the soccer field. Despite her excellence at soccer, she remains quite humble and down to earth. As the fourth Longo to pass through WHS, and the second one to play soccer, she hopes to outshine her family’s legacy.
She started playing soccer at age four and hasn’t looked back since. By 11 she was playing on the girls’ New England Football Club (NEFC) Elite team for her age group. Her team has won five state cups, and she personally has earned four MVP awards. She has made multiple appearances on the national level. Longo is most proud of her team for being ranked #1 in the country for the majority of 2014.
This was her second year playing on the WHS Girls’ Varsity Soccer team. She says that the team is “so much fun”, but the game is played much more slowly than her club team. She mainly plays attacking center mid or center forward; however, she is very versatile and can play where she is needed.
The method to her madness is extremely hard work. During her regular season she has practices, conditioning with her private trainers or tournaments every day of the week. Not only does she maintain a rigorous schedule, but also commits to an intensive, all-organic diet.
While she could pursue a career in soccer, she’d rather use her soccer talents to receive both a scholarship and an acceptance letter to an Ivy League college. Her current club team coach is the assistant coach at Harvard. Longo says her commitment to soccer makes balancing the rest of her life more difficult as she has to travel most weekends to attend tournaments. She likes having her father, her team’s manager, closely involved with her soccer career for his support.
Outside of soccer, she is a dedicated and successful student. She works at Laser Craze and volunteers throughout the community. She enjoys outdoor activities, like hiking and rock climbing, as well.
The next time Longo will be on the field after college will be coaching her kids’ soccer teams.
