Renata Mercedes ’25, a senior defender on the girls’ varsity soccer team, had the tremendous honor of representing her home country of the Dominican Republic during the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Mercedes and the DR squad played Ecuador, New Zealand, and Nigeria in the group stage of the tournament, losing two of those matches and tying one. Even though they fell to Ecuador in their opening match, they were able to play in front of a home crowd, as the Dominican Republic is playing host of this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Renata had this to say about her experience, “It was amazing how the whole crowd was here for us, even when coming out to warm up. I got goosebumps! Soccer has never been the main sport in the DR and to see that amount of support for a U-17 women’s soccer game, it was incredible. I couldn’t believe it. It was just amazing, like one in a lifetime experience. It’s something you dream of, something you work for, but you don’t believe it until you see it and live it.”

Read the full story about Renata’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup experience here.