Women's Soccer | October 31, 2024

Brooke Morrison has taken the road less traveled to get to where she is today. The journey here at this point in her life has been nothing short of surreal.

A tremendous student-athlete growing up, Morrison started playing sports as soon as she could walk. She was versatile enough to play volleyball, run cross country and ride horses in addition to the sport she thrives in.

Growing up, she played travel ball and went to tournaments trying to get recruited. During her senior year, she played in a tournament where the Young Harris coach attended. After speaking with her, she visited the school and committed to play for the Mountain Lions.

Morrison's time at YHC was unique as she didn't get a true fall season due to COVID-19. Having played soccer in the spring, her sophomore season was essentially her first collegiate year playing soccer. That year, she netted the game-winning goal against the Pacers.

As a junior, Morrison and her teammates traveled to Pacer Pit. 

"I was really excited to come to USCA and play that match," Morrison said. "My mom and sister were watching."

She scored early on and wanting to try and find the back of the net again, she went one-on-one with the goalkeeper. While running side-by-side with the opposition, she tried to jump, and she went down. A shooting pain in her leg ensued.

"I knew something was wrong. My shin guard was distorting my leg," Morrison stated. "The trainer came over and told me not to look down. I knew it was bad and they put on an inflatable cast."

Morrison went to Aiken Regional before going back to Young Harris, Ga, with her team. Five days later, she had surgery. Doctors put a metal rod through her tibia, a screw in her knee and two screws in her ankle. Morrison wasn't able to walk for three months – and trying to get back to play was really difficult.

"The trainers had never experienced that major of an injury," Morrison said. "They had seen it with football, but they didn't know the timeline. It took 14 months for my fracture to fully heal over the rod. I tried to play on it after a year, but there were complications with the screws. Once those were removed, I've been good. There's been no pain since then."

Morrison graduated from Young Harris in December 2023. Although she thought she was done with soccer and was going to get a job, she realized she didn't want to end her career the way it did at Young Harris.

"I had a lot of unanswered questions about what I could do," Morrison stated. "I talked to my parents, and I had two years of eligibility remaining. I started looking at other Division II programs and ironically, the film I had was against USCA. I liked the conference, the school and liked coming here. It was also two hours away from home.

"I thought I'd reach out to Coach Kleman and see what he thinks," Morrison continued. "He asked if I wanted to come on a visit and it was just meant to be."

Morrison will wrap up this season this weekend before playing a final year in 2025. She will graduate with her MBA in December 2025.

"Playing again has been a surreal feeling," Morrison said. "I had to switch my mentality because soccer was taken away from me. I wanted to prove to myself and my family that I can not only play again but compete at a higher level. I've scored more goals this year than I did at Young Harris.

"Overcoming this injury can show others that when you go through something traumatic, you can come out better," Morrison explained. "My testimony can help and show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's been character building and forced me to work harder."

Morrison has reached her destination school, but she has a long road left on her soccer journey.