Senior Arie Parker is a multi-sport athlete at King/Drew High School. Parker enrolled into King/Drew as a soccer player, but has since competed on the track and field and flag football teams.
In flag football, she helped the Golden Eagles reach the Division I City Section championship.
Parker helped the girls’ soccer team to an 11-3-1 overall record this season. They also led the Coliseum League with a 10-0-1 record.
Parker is a goalkeeper, which requires strength and concentration. In big moments, she mentally prepares herself for any possibility.
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“I have private session trainings where I’m constantly repeating the movement of throwing myself to the ground,” she said. “When I feel that the ball is getting close, it puts me into a mindset of I just need to lock in. It makes my heart race a little bit.”
Parker also plays for the club soccer team Santa Surf. Club soccer puts her around high-achieving players, which motivates her. It also gives her a chance to fine-tune her goalkeeping skills.
“It made me more of a stronger suit for the position I play so that I can be a better person or a better captain or somebody to my high school team,” Parker said.
During her junior year, Parker helped the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams in the City Section championships. She also runs the 200m and the 400m. Her soccer coach once told her, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.” She uses this advice during relay heats.
“I had to translate that into any sport I go into,” Parker said. “You guys have to push each other, you have to remain strong, you have to remain calm, you have to keep yourselves accountable for each other and also yourselves.”
Being a student athlete is a way for Parker to express her interests and capabilities. She noted how it “shows [her] to the world in a different lens.”
“I can also be great in the classroom, but I can also show you I’m so much more than just a student,” Parker said. “It’s another way to show my own style of creativity while also showing that I’m brain-smart as well.”
Parker served as the vice president of the BSU on campus along with being a peer counselor. She is also a member of Radical Rosies, a club that was started by her English teacher.
“It’s the idea to smash the patriarchy of a society where women feel belittled,” Parker said. “Also, just allowing people to understand the true definition of what it means to be a feminist.”
