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Most of us are either in school or work 9-5 jobs. We see professional athletes and can’t even imagine what their lives are like. Woodward is blessed to have a plentiful number of pro athletes who are Woodward alumni, but not many are like Simi Awujo 21’. She is now living in a new country while having already played in the Olympics and World Cup, starring for the Canadian national team (her mother was born in Canada). Furthermore, this summer she signed for British professional soccer team Manchester United. Awujo’s life is certainly different from that of the average person, but she doesn’t really feel much of a difference. The support of her team and teammates has made her feel right at home.
Player and coaches reunite as Woodward girls soccer coaches Sara Elliot and Tonia Webb and math teacher Swannee Park watch Simi Awujo ‘21 play at the SheBelieves Cup in April 2024. Photo credit Sara Elliot.
“At the end of the day, it is your profession, it is your job…,” Awujo said. “People may think that you’re in competition with one another, you know, because it is your profession… but I don’t, like, feel that here–it doesn’t feel like I’m in competition with someone because of… us playing the same position or whatnot… but honestly… that’s… such a small scale to me that I don’t usually think of.”
However, living in a new country has taken a bit of getting used to for Awujo.
“Strangers and people that I meet are pretty… nice, and I’m not saying that they’re not nice in America, but I just feel it’s kinda different,” Awujo said. “And then, I guess I didn’t know much about English weather before…I got here … it’s pretty cold and gloomy and not very sunny in England, which is quite interesting… and what I’d say I miss the most about America is probably, like, the weather, and sometimes…food and stuff, especially Chick-fil-a….”
Awujo also highlighted the impact of social media on athletes. Millions of people around the world are constantly screaming at the game they are watching, telling their team’s players to do a certain thing when their team isn’t playing as well as the fans want, and this extends to social media. Dealing with social media abuse is way more of a challenge for many professional athletes than one may think.
Awujo suggests that words do actually have an impact on athletes. While athletes are taught to not go on social media and to not read certain comments, social media and people’s words still affect her.
“Yeah, we do provide entertainment that people watch and you may be frustrated because you support a team and they’re not doing what you want, but, at the end of the day… that is someone, and that’s their profession, and they’re doing it to the best of their abilities.” Awujo said.
One way the Canada team managed the pressure from social media during Awujo’s time with them was by making a bubble of sorts to block it out. The team did this by knowing “what you can tolerate” and “what you can’t tolerate.”
“I think a big thing that we do with Canada is creating our bubble when a competition starts…,” Awujo said. “We dont let any outside noise penetrate our bubble… coming from social media, coming from our families, …telling us things that happen on social media, and we just try to make sure to keep that tight, keep those distractions and negativity back outside.”
Soccer has played a role for Awujo her whole life. Her parents and brother played, and she started playing when she could walk. She credits her parents and brother for getting her into the sport.
“My family was really into it,” Awujo said. “My dad played, so he just made me and my brother play it as well.”
After graduating from Woodward as a Vintage Eagle, Awujo went to the University of Southern California (USC) to play soccer. While in college, she was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference team and was dubbed a Scholar All-American, among other recognitions during her collegiate career. She particularly enjoyed a win against Stanford.
“It was a really good game,” Awujo said. “We did well. It was my birthday, my parents were there, so it was also just really nice to beat them.”
Awujo’s talent caught the interest of many big teams around the world. Still she wasn’t originally going to sign for anyone until after college, but she ultimately decided to sign for Manchester United while taking virtual classes.
“I wasn’t gonna go pro until I finished school,” Awujo said. “Then those sort of offers just started rolling in from various clubs, and I’ve been a United supporter since like I was a kid. …that’s my brother’s favorite club, and I… follow everything my brother does. We’ve been to United camps when we were kids, and… to Manchester to boarding soccer camps … I guess my agent just had those conversations, and when I realized that it was something that I can achieve,… I talked to my USC coach and then ultimately made the decision because of the club, the history of the club, and… already being a fan.”
Despite being a professional athlete, Awujo does not dismiss her academics. She is taking online classes at USC and feels it is going very well.
“[USC has] been so helpful…,” Awujo said. “I was supposed to graduate in December, but this opportunity presented itself, so then I had to split my semester into two, so I’m just… part time, taking two classes.”
Despite the hectic schedule, Awujo mentions how she still has enough free time and that “it’s been pretty easy to integrate” into her new life.
Awujo has also had the opportunity to play in both the Olympics and World Cup for her national team of Canada. Awujo enjoyed the Olympics more, as her team reached the quarterfinals and only lost on penalties. She points out her team’s mentality in the Olympic tournament compared to her debut World Cup tournament.
“While it [the World Cup] was a great tournament, we didn’t have the best performance that we wanted and I wasn’t able to… play, but the Olympics is probably more memorable just because… we had a pretty good tournament,” Awujo said. “There were a lot of factors that were stacked up against us and we did a good job.”
We often look at pro athletes and are awed by their incredible accomplishments. At the same time, we may also feel envious of or put down by their accomplishments. We all go through tough times in our lives. Maybe you didn’t get the grade you wanted in a class, maybe you got cut from the sports team you tried out for, maybe you just had a bad day. Whatever it is, trust the process. That mindset has helped Awujo get to where she is.
“Stop worrying so much…,” Awujo said. “There are things that you may want to do and a plan that you may have envisioned for yourself in… a certain period of time, but stop worrying because … whatever’s supposed to be will be… and your life will work out on its own course even if it doesn’t make sense to you at the time… stop worrying and just go with the flow and have fun ‘cause, it, it’s like crazy to me that I graduated high school three years ago.”