Brownwood Lady Lion Ashley Strong signed a letter of intent to play soccer with Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas Wednesday afternoon. Strong is the daughter of Mike and Kim Strong of Brownwood.
Strong explained that she had watched as Victoria Hood committed to run for Harding and later had the opportunity to visit the campus and saw that it was a great school.
“I saw it was a great opportunity and I just fell in love with the campus and the people around there,” Strong explained.
Harding soccer was first in their conference this year, according to Strong, and offers a very solid program. Along with playing soccer, she plans to study exercise science as an undergraduate and then pursue further her education in the Physician’s Assistant Program with a minor in missions.
Looking back at her career at Brownwood High School, Strong stated that her teammates have played a big part in her success.
“I have great teammates. They have really pushed me to be a better person and a better player,” said Strong. “The work ethic that they have is really going to help me push myself more to be better and be ready to be a college player.”
Strong stated that she knows it’s going to be tough but fun transitioning from the high school level, working toward being a college player.
“These two are a huge part of why Brownwood High School, in my opinion, is considered the top athletic school in our district and one of the top athletic schools in the region,” said Head Girls Coach Don Hood of Strong and her classmate and fellow athlete Heaven Walker who also signed a letter of intent on Wednesday. “You can go anywhere in the state and people know Brownwood soccer and Brownwood basketball and a lot of it is because of what these two girls have done, the injuries they have pushed through and the work that they have put in. The determination for their aspirations not to be derailed, is a huge motivation to me as a coach, and I hope to you teammates, as friends and athletes, I hope you see why we preach to never give up. I don’t know of anybody that has gone through any more than these two have been through with bad ankles and bad knees. Because of their perseverance, our teams are better today.”
Strong’s soccer coach, Keith Robinson, spoke of his time coaching Ashley and the pride of seeing her grow as an athlete.
“This is my third year here and my third year to coach Ashley, and it has been a blessing to coach her as a student and a person. I am glad to have had the opportunity to coach her and get to help see her to the next level. I’m excited to see what she is going to do at Harding. I’m very proud of Ashley.”
Pictured above are Ashley Strong and her family at the signing. Below Strong is pictured as she signed her letter of intent.
