Chesterton soccer magician Adey Avey signs with University of Detroit Mercy of the Division I Horizon League

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Taking a pro-active approach to her recruitment as a soccer player, Chesterton senior Adey Avey emailed a highlight video of hers to the coaching staff at University of Detroit Mercy. As you might imagine, it didn’t take long for her to get a response.
“They watched it and they called me the exact same day and they were like, ‘I need you to come here on a visit.’ They asked me what days I’m free,” Avey said. “It was a very short phone call.”
And, she said, a very enjoyable visit.
“I really liked the coaches and it felt like home and I liked the area it was in,” Avey said. “It was walking distance to places and the campus was really nice.”
She met one of the players during the campus visit. Then, later in the day, when Avey went to Smoothie King she ran into the same player.
“We talked for a little bit,” Avey said. “She was really sweet.”
Avey heard the right words when talking to the player.
“She said the team chemistry was really good and the coaches really push you to be your best all the time,” Avey said.
So, Avey made a verbal commitment “about two months ago,” signed her letter of intent two weeks ago and held a signing ceremony in the cafeteria on Tuesday.
“I’ll be attacking mid instead of forward,” Avey said. “I don’t care which, as long as I’m on the field. I think I’ll have a chance to play right away if I lift and if I keep my endurance and technical stuff up.”
If?
“I will,” she corrected herself. “I’ll train in the offseason and when I get there, I’ll train really hard.”
She had no shortage of big moments to include on her highlight video. Avey scored from close and from way downtown. She scored them with her right foot and her left. She used speed and guile and outrageously strong shots to find the back of the net, but it was more than her goal-scoring prowess that enabled Avey to lead the Trojans to a 15-5 record and 6-1 mark in the DAC. As a senior, she added an ability and willingness to set up teammates for goals. She contributed 28 goals and 18 assists, both team highs by a long shot.
Speaking of long shots, remember Avey’s second goal in a 3-0 victory over Valparaiso on Sep. 2 in the sixth game of the season? It’s her favorite one on her highlight reel.
“I got the ball halfway I dribbled and the goalie kind of went out of the box and I shot it way up top,” Avey said of the goal that came from a long way away.
In a sign of what was going to come in her senior season, she assisted the Trojans’ other goal, scored by Eva Montes. And then there was another big DAC game in which Avey outscored the entire Lake Central team, 3-2.
Her ultimate goal was to land a roster spot at a Division I school. She shoots, she scores!
Finding a school that both sides of the recruitment consider to be the right fit can be tricky, but Avey got it done.
“I think it was just determination and patience because the recruiting process is never easy, so I just kept going,” Avey said.