Whether it was playing on offense or being in goal, Abi Beed loved representing Seymour High School on the soccer field.
“I love the sport. I love the people I played with,” Beed said. “I love making friends. The friends I’ve grown up with playing soccer, they’re still my really good friends today.”
Beed started playing soccer at an early age in the Seymour Park and Rec Leagues, then played travel soccer with the Seymour Cyclones.
On offense, Beed looked to create scoring opportunities.
“I played either out on the wing or in the middle,” Beed said. “It was where (Coach Greg) Musser wanted us to be at. I pushed the ball up, sent crosses in, sent lateral passes in for other people to score.
Beed played in goal in the second half of several matches.
“That was a completely different point of view,” Beed said. “I loved being the only person on the field that got to use their hands, and I loved punting and goal (clearing) kicks because you don’t get to do those when you’re on the field and it’s really fun to do them when you’re in goal.”
Beed said she enjoyed the home matches playing on turf the past two years.
The turf is a hotter surface to play on than grass.
“We were already in shape after summer practice, but when it did get really hot Musser gave us lots of water breaks and stuff.
“There’s lots of running. Practice was very important. Musser harped on us about good practices all the time and you could tell in a game when we’ve had good practices and everything. That’s what makes or breaks a team is the practices.”
The senior enjoyed the night matches over the Saturday matches because it was cooler in the evenings.
“It was a lot cooler outside and more people could come so we had a bigger crowd cheering us on,” Beed said. “After a long day in school you might have your frustrations build up and you could take them out on the field.”
Beed said it was important to watch the junior varsity games to see what style of play the opponent ran.
“Musser and Coach (Bob) Hartman would point out things that they did as far as cuts and dropping and stuff,” she said. “We used it on the varsity level, too. When the varsity played, we’d watch them in the first half and adjust in the second half.”
The Owls won the Hoosier Cup at Bloomington and Beed said that was a career highlight for her, “because it’s so much fun and playing all the teams is really exciting, too. That was Musser’s first Hoosier Cup championship.
“It was a good feeling to give him that and to be able to be a part of it.”
Beed has enjoyed attending Seymour.
“I’m glad I came here,” Beed said. “I have so many friends here, and so many supportive teachers. It’s just a good place for me to be at. I’ll remember all things that it has taught me, so many lessons that I’ve learned here that if I went to a smaller school I probably wouldn’t have been able to learn.
“My faith has been tested here, and that’s awesome that I’ve been able to grow in my faith, even at a public school instead of a private school.”
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Name: Abi Beed
School: Seymour High School
Parents: David and Angie Beed
Sibling: Alexis
Sports: soccer 4 years, basketball 1 year
Organizations: choir, Immanuel Lutheran Youth Group
Plans after high school: attend Indiana University Purdue University, study vet medicine
Favorite food: Mac and cheese
Favorite TV show: Shameless
Favorite singer: Luke Bryan
Favorite movie: Chicken Little
Favorite team: Charlotte Hornets
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