Personal Statement

My name is Grace Kester and I was born right outside of Guangzhou, China. I was adopted at 9 months old and moved to Atlanta, Georgia where I've grown up with my parents and sister. I'm currently in 11th grade at King's Ridge Christian School in Milton, Georgia where I play soccer and run track in the spring. King's Ridge is a smaller Christian School founded by Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian and John Smoltz, the Hall of Fame Pitcher.

I started playing soccer with my older sister's team when I was 5 years old and have played every season since. I come off as quiet and introverted until you get to know me. Soccer has helped me grow as a person and develop confidence and security within the team atmosphere. I play center back and because I am on the quieter side, I tend to lead by example rather than vocally. I pride myself on being at every practice, always being on time and my ability to play almost every minute of every season. I currently play ECNL at Concorde Fire Platinum and have a great coach , Mike Mueller.

Atlanta is a hotbed for soccer talent and we have so many amazing girls and teams to compete against. I've played with three girls who have been called into US Girls team camps. Playing with and against those girls every day keeps me sharp and makes me grow as a player. My High School coach, Jessica Rostedt played at Virginia and on US National teams and she is one of my role models in soccer. 

I plan on majoring in physical therapy/kinesiology/exercise science. I feel like the academics at King's Ridge will prepare me for a rigorous college experience.  I was diagnosed with a Language Disorder as a young child and it makes me work very hard in the classroom to make good grades, but I feel like I have done an exceptional job academically so far and maintain a high GPA.

I hope to play soccer in College and also go to a really strong academic school. I would love to play Division 1 if I can find the right fit but I have two cousins who played Division 3 sports at Little Ivy schools and their experience at that level was fantastic athletically and academically. I feel confident that I will end up wherever I am supposed to be once I head to college and I plan on succeeding academically and athletically wherever that may be.

Thank you for taking the time to read my profile.

Grace Kester

2023

Center Back

Concorde Fire Platinum ECNL