By Dave O’sullivan
Glory Days Magazine
Even at the tender age of just 10, Hailey Gould had to shoulder a lot of responsibility. With both her parents, Laura Gould and Michael Abelson, working — and sometimes multiple jobs — Hailey was asked to look after younger sister Hannah, nine years her junior, on more than one occasion. Gould, now a 17-year-old Mays Landing resident and captain of the Atlantic County Institute of Technology girls soccer team, says having to mature quickly and take on adult tasks before even becoming a teenager helped mold her into the leader she is today.
“I remember throughout the years, I’d be 10 years old and watching her. I had to take on a lot of responsibility. When I wasn’t playing soccer and had free time, I’d be here watching her while my friends would be out,” said Gould, whose RedHawks have gotten off to a 2-6 start in the very competitive Cape-Atlantic League American Conference. “In retrospect, she did have to get dragged to a lot of early morning tournaments, and I give her credit for that. Looking after her has helped me mature. As soon as an assignment is given I want to get it done, I don’t like procrastination. I try to get things done as soon as possible.”
ACIT’s soccer program is now led by Jason Embs, who is trying to build a foundation for a program that has seen several head coaches in its brief history, and Gould is putting more bricks into the wall that was started by players such as Tess Carty and Anna Attardi. In fact, Gould recently overtook both those former players in the ACIT record books, as she is now the RedHawks’ career leader in both goals scored and assists, passing Carty and Attardi, respectively, in those categories on the ACIT career leaders list.
“I came here as a freshman, mainly for education. The soccer team didn’t have much of a foundation, but it was fun because I love the girls on the team. Freshman year I only scored four goals but sophomore year I scored about 16, so I’ve definitely grown throughout my four years and quickly adapted to the style of play (on varsity). It’s been fun, I’ve grown and learned a lot from the girls,” she said. “Coming into sophomore year, I got thrown the captain’s band, so that was quite interesting being a young captain. But I quickly adapted to it. One of the things I realized from freshman year was I really took losing to heart, it would ruin my whole day and I would be so upset when we lost. But the girls taught me that it’s going to happen, you’re going to lose some and win some. Eventually, I learned how to have fun with the sport and they’ve really taught me how to enjoy it.
“I expected to just be an average player, be in the books for four years and eventually fade away as time goes on,” added Gould, who now has 40 goals and 32 assists during her high school career. “I never expected to have a lasting impact (on this program). I’m extremely proud. To be able to do this, and do it with these girls who back me up on everything, and still being able to have fun along the way is really great.”
Gould says she’s focusing on doing everything she can to help the RedHawks improve their spot in the CAL standings, and when her career ends she’ll then turn her attention to playing college soccer and pursuing a nursing degree at Rutgers-Camden University. She’ll have the unique opportunity to attend college with her mom, a social worker, who is studying for her masters degree in psychology at the same university.
“I did get a few Division II offers, but ultimately I wanted to stay closer to home and committed to Rutgers-Camden. It fits what I want to do with my future because I want to be in nursing, plus, my mom goes there now, so it’s a perfect fit. That will be interesting (going to school with her). She’s a social worker who is going for her masters in psychology,” Gould said. “Growing up, that was always what I strove for. When I was little, I would go to college games and think, ‘that’s what I want to do. I want to be that, I want to play college soccer.’ To be able to do that — even though it’s at the Division III level — this is what I wanted and everything I’ve dreamed of, so it’s an amazing thing. I’ve prepared a lot for that, it’s constantly been on my mind. Their assistant coach (Kelvin Murray) has been a trainer of mine for a long time, ever since I was a little girl. He was the one who really opened me to the idea of going to Rutgers-Camden.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Dave O’Sullivan is the publisher of Glory Days Magazine, the premier high school sports digital publication at the Jersey Shore. For more Glory Days features, visit www.glorydaysonline.com.
