Biddeford senior Taylor Wildes signed her National Letter of Intent to play field hockey at Division II American International College on Wednesday afternoon.
BIDDEFORD – Taylor Wildes has worked hard academically and athletically to get to this point.
The Biddeford senior always knew she wanted to play college athletics – and on Wednesday afternoon all of her efforts paid off.
Wildes signed her National Letter of Intent to play field hockey at American International College during a signing ceremony at Biddeford high school.
“It feels unreal,” said Taylor Wildes. “I’ve always dreamed about this since I was a little kid to be able to play college sports. I’m really excited that it’s actually coming true and I’m going to be playing next year.”
Sarah Wildes, Taylor Wildes’ mother, never doubted her daughter.
“I think she just always knew she would,” said Sarah Wildes. “She’s a very driven kid. If there’s a goal, she’s going to accomplish it.”
Taylor Wildes is a three-sport athlete. She plays field hockey, basketball and softball.
The decision to continue only one sport was difficult for her to make.
“At first I didn’t really know which sport but I always knew that I wanted to be a college athlete,” she said.
In eighth grade, Taylor Wildes had to choose what position she wanted to play. Her decision to play goalie led her to start as a freshman.
The standout then started playing travel field hockey and it soon became her “favorite” pastime.
“Once I started playing year-round and getting exposure to recruitment, I just fell even more in love with field hockey, and I knew that I wanted to work hard enough to make it the next level,” said Taylor Wildes.
Taylor Wildes’ coaches, teammates, teachers and family members, she said, pushed to the next level.
“My coaches have definitely had a huge impact on making me the athlete that I am today,” she said. “All my coaches knew that I wanted to be a college athlete so they pushed me that much harder in practices. Biddeford has great teachers they’re all very supportive of their students and their student-athletes and they all put in the extra time to make sure I was understanding everything. I just want to say thank you to my coaches, my family and my teammates.”
When Taylor Wildes stepped on AIC’s campus, she realized that Springfield, Massachusetts, was also the perfect fit.
“AIC’s close to home and a smaller school which is really what I was looking for,” she said. “You can just tell that everybody there knows each other. The team was very welcoming to me and the coach so I was really like ‘this is where I want to go.’”
Taylor Wildes parents are proud of her decision and of all the hard work their daughter has put in.
“Her dad and I are so proud,” said Sarah Wildes. “It’s pretty cool when your kid has a dream and works so hard for it. She worked really hard academically as well. To see her actually do what she set out to do is really all a parent could ask for.”
Taylor Wildes plans to major in criminal justice and ultimately pursue a career as a detective.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 780-9018. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports
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