Unselfish and tough as nails

In sports, some positions get all the glory. Others go unnoticed.

If success were dependent on goals scored alone, USU senior midfielder Shannon Ross would be at the bottom of the totem pole. After 56 soccer matches played in an Aggie uniform, Ross ended her career having never scored a goal.

In fact, Ross only tallied one point in her career off an assist in her junior year.

But don’t blame the absence of points on a lack of skill or leadership, USU head coach Heather Cairns said.

“It’s just her position. I don’t worry about that,” Cairns said. “That’s not Shannon’s role on the field. If she scores, it ends off being great, but it’s not her role on the field. She is important on the field for other reasons. The points in her column is not a reflection of what she means to the team on the field.”

As one of the tallest members on a USU squad noted for its lack of stature, at 5-foot-8-inches, Ross has spent the majority of her time playing as a defensive midfielder – a position known more for hits and bruises than an offensive display.

But even though she has never scored at USU, Ross said it doesn’t bother her.

“I like setting up people more,” Ross said of her position. “There’s the same enjoyment for me as making a play as starting a play. Making a sweet tackle is the same to me.”

Cairns said Ross’ presence on the field is felt in more of a rallying way. Her dedication to the program earned her the title of team captain for her senior year, Cairns said.

“Shannon’s one of the (most unique) leaders I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching,” Cairns said. “She has a selfless streak to her. A good leader is not afraid, they have to stick their neck out a little bit and they have to separate themselves from the group in order to lead the group. And I think she’s willing to do that both on the field and vocally as well as off the field.”

Being vocal is something Ross said has made her an effective player, even from her early stages as a player.

“A lot of players are great players but they don’t talk to their team, so I played off of that, that was one of my strengths,” Ross said of her ability to communicate well with her teammates. “I always had a goal that every time I stepped on the field, I wasn’t going to be quiet. And at first, when I was a freshman, it was weird because I was like, ‘Why am I bossing this senior around? She’s not going to listen to me, she’s going to hate me.’ But I found that the players respected me for it.”

Ross said coming to USU playing soccer as a freshman was a bit intimidating at first, but the challenge was something she was familiar with.

When she was younger, playing soccer in high school, she stood a mere 4 feet 11 inches, nearly a foot shorter than she is now, and shorter than most college soccer players. Though she scored 26 goals her junior year of high school, she said she had “coaches tell me I was too little and I would never play college soccer.” But she said that didn’t deter her.

“My older brother was always the one that always pushed me in soccer, and he just told me, ‘You know what Shannon? You’re good enough to play anywhere if you’ll just play your game,'” she said.

So, with hard work and a growth spurt, Ross said she beat the naysayers and lived her dream of playing soccer.

Ross said she values the power of dedication and would tell all players to “don’t let anybody ever tell you that you can’t. You just have to believe in yourself, that’s all that matters.”

Ross said she believed in her abilities from an early age, where she grew up as a self-proclaimed tomboy in Texas.

“When I was in second grade, my parents decided – there was a league right by our house – so they signed me up. They thought, ‘This girl’s a little tomboy, she likes to wrestle with the boys, might as well put her in a sport where she can hit girls,'” she said. “I would just go after anybody. I would go after my brother and he was like four years older than me, and I just didn’t understand the size difference. Growing up in Texas with physical play, I was a very physical player.”

Coming into college, Ross said she was faced with another immediate challenge, but true to form, she learned from it and adapted it into her style of play.

“My biggest growing year probably was my freshman year because I played my first game for 28 minutes and I still know the exact minute, and I tore my knee,” Ross said. “So I sat the rest of the season and it was growing because I had to learn how to be a leader on the bench, and to learn how to affect the play while on the bench. And I also learned great leadership because I watched everyone play. I watched college soccer, so when I came in my sophomore year, I was used to it.”

Cairns said she has seen growth and maturity from Ross over the course of her career and said she is a player that will be greatly missed.

“She has been instrumental in getting us all on the same page,” Cairns said. “She embodies where our program is going and is able to let the team know those goals and keep them all on the same page.”

-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu