Roger(s) That

In the blink of an eye, Haylee Rogers of the Douglas Royals women’s soccer program is in her fifth and final year looking forward to graduation in June.

Originally from Lloydminster, Alberta, she started playing soccer around the age of five and fell in love with the sport almost immediately. Although she played several sports growing up like basketball, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, dance and even curling, she kept falling back to soccer.  “Honestly, I don’t think I was very good at any of them, so that’s probably why I stuck to soccer,” says Rogers.

It wasn’t until she was 13 when soccer became much more serious, “I began to receive numerous opportunities to play in other cities. As a result, I didn't have much time to do other things, as I was travelling extensively to play.”

Soccer is a global sport and one of her most cherished memories didn’t even happen in a game, but it was the sport that gave her this opportunity.  She remembers the moment, thinking back to when she was 15, “I was playing a tournament in Spain, and my team and I were sitting in the lobby of our hotel when the Colombian team came down. Both our teams were kind of awkward at first, just staring at each other, but at some point, they came over to us, and we all started trying to talk to each other. It was so funny, we were using hand gestures and working together to talk. We ended up getting this amazing picture with both teams in the lobby of our hotel.”

When it came time for high school graduation and opening the next chapter of life on and off the pitch, Douglas College started to come into focus, “I ended up out at Douglas because I wanted to push myself to try something new. After many long conversations with different coaches, teammates, my parents and other players I looked up to, I decided that moving out here (BC) and playing with Douglas is a way to prove to myself I can do it.”

She has definitely proved to herself that she belongs on this Royals team and has learned to become independent being this far away from family.   That said, despite being far away, having support from loved ones is extremely important, “The biggest lesson I’ve learned as a Royals player is that support is necessary and needed. I have learned that asking for help and having others around you advocating for you and wanting you to find success makes it a lot easier to be successful.”

As she looks at the twilight of her collegiate career, winning another PACWEST title on the pitch is certainly a goal and repeat that feeling of being a champion after winning in 2023.  Off the pitch however, she also has goals, “After grad in June, I want to move home and pursue grad school. I will probably take some time off soccer while I finish up school, but after that, I will likely play with friends in tournaments or just go out every once in a while, to enjoy.”

As we turn the calendar to October, the end of her collegiate career may be near, but she would rather not think about that right now.  She and the Royals are preparing for Week 5 of the season and will meet the Capilano Blues for a home-and-home this coming weekend trying to climb in the standings and solidify a spot in the PACWEST championship tournament.