Katina Boozer gets that excited-nervous feeling whenever she touches a soccer ball. When this happens, she knows things are good and everything is right. The absence of that feeling, the one she had grown so accustomed to over the years, was her first sign that she had made the wrong choice.

As a senior in high school, Boozer decided to play women’s soccer at James Madison University. It is only 45 minutes from Boozer’s hometown of Charlottesville, Va., making it a popular college among her fellow classmates, and she quickly ran into a roadblock.

“I knew it wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” she said. The same things that had once attracted her to the school were now turning her away from it, in a big way.

By December of her freshman year, Boozer knew it was time for her to leave James Madison, and by January she informed her coach and teammates of her decision.

Her childhood friend Susannah Gianakos, who was already playing varsity soccer for Elon, brought the school to her attention. Boozer visited Elon with Gianakos and was sold.

“I was looking for something newer; a smaller school, more southern,” Boozer said.

Elon fit those credentials.

Because Gianakos was already on the team, the contact process for Boozer was fairly easy. According to NCAA rules, another school can only talk to and pursue a player once she is officially released by her previous team. Once this happened, Boozer talked to coach Chris Webb a few times and final arrangements were made for her to make her first appearance at Elon.

“It didn’t take much,” Webb said. “We knew she was a good player and we were excited to have her play here.”

The transfer was based on her feelings more than anything else.

“I didn’t really think about how my role on the team would change [by switching schools],” Boozer said.

The transfer proved to have a drastic impact on Boozer’s athletic career. At JMU, Boozer played a total of eight games but did not start in any. She netted one goal on three attempts.

In her 2006 season with Elon, she was second on the squad with seven goals and a team-high two game winners. This season, she leads the team in games started and goals scored, with 16 and seven, respectively.

“[Boozer] plays a bigger role than she realizes sometimes,” Webb said.

This season alone, four of Boozer’s seven shots were from behind the 18-yard line. In one game, she stole the ball from a defender and quickly dribbled over mid-field, keeping her eyes on the goal the entire time. After a moment’s hesitation, she stopped at the 20-yard line and drilled the ball into the top left corner, out of reach of the diving goalie.

As if that was not enough, Boozer did the same thing a second time with only seconds left in regulation.

“She’s a jester with a mean right foot,” junior goalie Lizz Johnson said.

The changes and differences from last season to this season are readily noticeable in Boozer’s play. Although she is somewhat quiet on the field, teammates describe her as always being funny and taking everything in stride.

“She is positive and optimistic about everything,” junior midfielder Katie Persichini said. “It really helps out our team.”

Because the team has only one senior, the juniors really needed to step up into their new leadership roles, Boozer said.

She has done just that. She jogs to mid-field at the beginning of the game, taking her rightful place in the middle of her other two teammates. Her actions speak louder than her words.

“Boozer is obviously one of our key players on the field,” Persichini said. “She just somehow always finds a way to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Individually, Boozer plays forward, a position she enjoys because it gives her many chances to score goals and lead her team to a win.

“In the last games, I saw we were capable of playing good teams,” Boozer said. “I have really high hopes for the rest of the season. I want to make marks on the Southern Conference.”

Academically, Boozer’s future ambitions involve going to graduate school. At JMU, Boozer’s declared major was dietetics. Because Elon does not have an equivalent major, she first declared exercise sports science and then switched to human services.

She said it becomes hard trying to balance all the different aspects of her life.

“[It’s frustrating] when everyone is out having fun and I have to stay dedicated and remember my role,” she said.

“Katina is someone who I enjoy having in class,” said Sandra Reid, Boozer’s juvenile justice lecturer. “I am totally amazed by her ability to be a student athlete and keep up with the demands of class.”

But, Boozer said she appreciates the dedication and commitment soccer takes and that it makes her stronger as a person. She said she takes the values she learns on the field for granted in everyday life. Even the simplest things the soccer field has taught her come into play when she least expects it.

According to Boozer, one of the most rewarding aspects of playing college soccer is the friendships and bonds she has formed with all her fellow teammates.

“The girls are great; they are like my family,” she said. “I have so much respect for everyone on my team.”

Whether it is during practice or during a game, cheers of “Yeah Booze,” and “Way to go Boozer,” echo throughout the soccer field.

“Boozer brings the best out in all of us,” Johnson said. “She’s a great player.”

Reporter: Michelle Longo - 10/31/07