Senior Spotlight: Genina Parker
Elgin High School senior Genina Parker plays striker for the Lady Owls soccer team. She’s played the sport since the age of four and enjoyed competitive soccer the most because Parker got to travel a lot.
“I started playing ever since, and I loved it, and I was the best on that team, my first team, and she thought, ‘Okay, she's actually really good at this, let's keep her in,’” she said.
In high school, she hasn’t done any other sports but soccer.
“Soccer has always been the light in my darkness,” Parker said. “I love soccer. I've tried other sports, but nothing just compared to soccer.”
She said she’ll miss her teammates.
“I will miss the bonding we've had. We've always come together as a team, no matter what,” Parker said. “Talk about what we need to work on. Talk about our differences, and all along, we've always got together, and we're friends. I love my team.”
She said she has a couple of accomplishments from her soccer career, including overcoming injuries.
“Well, I've had a couple MVPs growing up,” Parker said. “My high school wasn't really great because I've had three ACL tears, but I came back every time, and it's really my biggest accomplishment is coming back after every injury. I'm getting surgery in three weeks for another.”
However, she will not continue her career in college because of her ACL injuries, which she said were hard to recover from.
“I had a lot of physical therapy,” Parker said. “I've had a lot of help from my trainer that works here. She's helped me a lot, taping me up. At practices, take it easy every day and my coach understood. She always let me take it easy if something bad happened, but my team's always supported me throughout, so that helped a lot.”
Off the field, she will miss studying for school.
“I kind of liked studying it was it was a drive for me,” Parker said. “It's what kept me on my feet. It helped me balance myself. But I am going to college so, it probably will be a lot of studying there. But school, I will miss my friends. I will miss all the kids. I will miss the underclassmen looking up to me.”
She said her academic accomplishments were her grades.
“I've always kept straight A's,” Parker said. “I've always been on the honor roll. It was hard juggling that with soccer, but I've managed to do it, and so far, I'm graduating with straight A's again so.”
Her future college is Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which Parker received a scholarship to attend to major in zoology.
“My whole life, I've always been interested in animals,” Parker said. “I grew up reading about them. I've always had an interest in them no matter what animal it is. I had a teacher that had a classroom full of insects, snakes, spiders and they just caught my eye.”
She also goes to the zoo and aquarium during her free time and plans to do internships.
Parker said when it comes to her heritage, her grandmother is the biggest influence.
“We do a lot of ceremonies. We do a lot of sweats; powwows. I love powwows I love handgames. I love it all - the dresses, the skirts,” she said. “My grandma is also a leader in the MMIW group, and I grew up in that, so I know a lot of information about that. I love my heritage. The beading is pretty. Everything about it's just amazing.”
Parker also made necklaces and earrings and said it’s relaxing and calming.
She will graduate on Friday, May 10, at the Great Plains Coliseum in Lawton, Oklahoma.
