Wood's Walker to play soccer for Division I Belmont

WINCHESTER — Based on the way James Wood girls’ soccer coach Donavan Russell described Olivia Walker to a crowd of 60 people on Tuesday night in the high school library, it’s no wonder she’ll be competing for NCAA Division I Belmont University in Tennessee next year.

“The young woman never quits,” said Russell during Walker’s signing ceremony. “She plays so, so hard. If you’ve watched her play, or played against her, or you play with her, you know that she comes off the field foaming at the mouth, exhausted, begging not to be on the bench, sweat pouring off, uniform dirty. I look at Liv, I look at her eyes, I see her look at me, and there’s no way I can ask her to sit on the bench. It would crush her because of her spirit and what she does on the soccer field, and how hard she plays.

“She’s gotten so much better. The coaches and I were talking about it and said, ‘She’s a woman playing with girls.’ It’s quite a growth. I’m so proud of how hard you’ve worked to claw and scratch and get better and better and better every day.”

Walker played an integral role in James Wood’s historic 2021 season due to her significant improvement.

After recording four goals and four assists as a freshman in 2019, Walker returned after the pandemic year of 2020 to score 15 goals (third in the area) and record an area-best 18 assists in just 15 games last spring. James Wood (12-1-2) was the best team in the Class 4 Northwestern District regular season, won its first-ever district tournament title, and won its first-ever region tournament game. Walker is an outside midfielder for her Loudoun Soccer club team but plays outside mid and forward for the Colonels.

In Belmont, Walker feels like she’s found a college that will help her continue to better herself in all phases of her life.

Walker made her verbal commitment to Belmont in December, but she’s had her eyes on the Nashville school since January of 2021. Walker also took a look at Lipscomb University when she traveled to Nashville last year, but Belmont immediately caught her attention.

“I really loved the school as soon as I went down,” Walker, said. “I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”

Walker participated in a soccer camp at Belmont in July of 2021. Walker’s performance sparked regular communication between her and the Bruins, but Walker said Belmont wanted to see her perform with Loudoun Soccer before deciding if she would be a good fit for the team.

They got that chance at the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) showcase event in Murfreesboro, Tenn., from Dec. 3-5 in 2021. Two weeks later, Belmont offered Walker a spot on the team during a phone conversation, and Walker gave her verbal commitment that night.

Walker likes that she’s going to a strong program. Belmont advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2019, and the Bruins finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference last year, posting a 5-3 mark in league play and an 8-8-1 mark overall. Belmont will make the move to the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2022-23 school year.

But what she really likes is the emphasis Belmont 11th-year head coach Heather Henson places on having well-rounded students. For 15 straight years, Belmont has been given the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award, and in 2013-14 Belmont had the highest team GPA in NCAA Division I. Walker said Henson also understands how important religion can be to her team’s players.

“They really just care about you as a person,” said Walker, who will study exercise science. “I like that they’re high on academics. I really like the coach. Everyone’s super close on the coaching staff.”

Walker said she feels she can make a difference for Belmont.

“It’s definitely what I was looking for,” Walker said. “It’s a place where I’ll have a chance to play and not just sit on the bench the whole time.”

As Russell stated, Walker’s the type of person who will do whatever she can put herself on the field, and stay there. He wasn’t the only coach to make those types of comments on Tuesday.

Walker’s former Winchester United and Shenandoah FC Elite coach, and Handley’s current boys’ soccer Cosmo Balio told the crowd that “the engine doesn’t quit” on Walker. Walker’s Loudoun Soccer coach Randall May spoke about Walker’s ability to embrace the increased physicality of the game as Loudoun Soccer transitioned into taking on more challenging competition in the ECNL. May said Walker wasn’t always fond of the way he challenged her, but she understood what he was doing and did what she needed to do to improve her game.

Walker said it means a lot to her to continue her soccer career at the college level.

“It’s definitely an accomplishment. I’ve worked really hard for it, and my parents have helped me get here,” said Walker, the daughter of Gina and Greg, a 1993 James Wood graduate and the Colonels’ former wrestling coach. “I’ve been aspiring to do this ever since I was young. It’s definitely a dream come true.”

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