Plant Citys Hoy Moving Forward

from Tampa Tribune

PLANT CITY - Though Emily Hoy officially signed with Liberty University a couple of weeks ago, her desire to do so has been years in the making.

Hoy, senior forward for the Plant City High soccer team, put pen to scholarship papers Feb. 19 and will advance her playing career at Liberty. Though other schools were in the running, Hoy considered the Lynchburg, Va. college her perfect destination.

"I came home from my recruiting visit, and it's all I could talk about for a week," said Hoy, who also considered East Tennessee State and the University of South Florida.

Those other colleges could not offer Hoy what Liberty did.

From an academic standpoint Liberty was the only school Hoy could find that had the combination of her three - yes, three - desired fields of study. Hoy wants to major in accounting and international business, with a minor in criminology.

And Hoy was very determined about another non-athletic aspect of life at Liberty.

"I wanted a smaller school, and a Christian school," she said. "I was able to meet my future teammates, and they are such a great group. They are so into God ... and they want to show that through the way they carry themselves. There's no cussing on that team."

Hoy was able to get a notion of her future during her sophomore year at Plant City. Jason Streits and Ben Strawbridge, both coaches on Hoy's club soccer team, played their college ball at Liberty.

She attended a summer camp at Liberty in 2007 and that was it as far as Hoy was concerned.

"I knew this was my college. If I could have signed then I would have," she said. Without naming the school, Hoy said she cut a recruiting trip elsewhere short recently, telling the coach "I'm sorry to have wasted your time" because she knew Liberty would be her ultimate choice.

Hoy made her verbal commitment last spring but still wanted to visit other schools.

The Liberty staff clearly reciprocated the interest. Hoy will be the only player from Florida on the Flames roster.

Debbie Hoy, Emily's mother, is the testing coordinator at Plant City High. She said athletics were an early love for Emily; at age 3 she was into T-ball and gymnastics as well as soccer. Debbie herself was a standout volleyball player at the University of Tampa.

In her middle school years at Tomlin, Emily played volleyball, track and soccer - but there were other activities she enjoyed during that time.

"She began showing dairy cows through 4-H for six years. She raised two pigs and three steers during her FFA career at Tomlin and at Plant City High," Debbie said.

Other sports remain of interest to Hoy, who will run track to close out her Raider athletic career. She carries a 4.7 grade-point average.

Though Raider head soccer coach Wendy Young only got Hoy for one year (Young's first as Raider coach), she enjoyed the experience.

"Emily is an outstanding soccer player with a bright future playing college soccer," Young said. "I've enjoyed being her coach and I am very proud of her. She has worked hard and deserves the opportunity to move up to the next level."