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Intramural Hustle pt. 3: Co-Rec Soccer

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Cerio
Photo courtesy of Lindsay Cerio

Name: Lindsay Cerio

Sport: Co-recreational 11 v. 11 Soccer

Position: Center of the Field

Nickname: "Linds" or "The Bruiser"

Post-Game Snack: Capri-Sun, Fruit Punch

Most Traumatic Childhood Memory: Falling off bike at age 6

As with most intramural all stars, Lindsay's journey towards achieving recreational fame began at a young age when she first began playing soccer. Hailing from the "great" state of New Jersey, Lindsay's journey to the intramural leagues of Miami University begins at the age of three when she first picked up a ball.

Miraculously, Lindsay overcame what many critics described as a "career-ending injury" when the front tire or her bike collided with the back tire of her father's, causing her to fall face first into the street. She points to this moment as one that dramatically shaped her childhood, leaving her with a newfound appreciation for working through challenges, as well as what she describes as "nasty scar on my lip." It is of note that upon further inspection, the scar does not in fact reside on the lip, but instead right under the nose (once again demonstrating the vicious inadequacy of the New Jersey public school system).

After a Rocky-esque comeback from this injury, Cerio continued her soccer career in her adolescence between high school, club, and academy teams. After many years of work on and off the field, she eventually was sought after by a handful of Division I programs. Though offers attracted some attention, the politics of the game (over-aggressive parents, bribery, extortion, embezzlement, etc.) were beginning to get in the way of her love of the game. Around her junior year of high school, she began to explain to her parents and others that she was tired of the rat race that is youth soccer, and no longer wished to pursue college athletics. Though full of tumultuous events, her high school career peaked with a moment that can only be described as the soccer equivalent of the escape scene in Shawshank Redemption.

With the game tied up, Lindsay and her team were playing for their lives in a David vs. Goliath matchup no one gave them the chance to win. Rain filled the stadium and mud caked the ground. A ball comes at the opposing team's defender, and the defender slips in the mud. The forward streaks forward with the ball and puts it away!

"It was fucking amazing," were Cerio's only words on the tremendous 2-1 victory.

Though physically incapable of correctly pronouncing the word "water" (NJ folks use the regional "worter," further evidence of a failing public school system), Cerio has made a name for herself in the intramural world. After finding her way onto a team with members of her service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, Lindsay has gained not only a core group of soccer friends, but also a new found appreciation for the game.

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"It's really only once a week, and it can be a nice break from the hours and hours spent studying on any given day," Cerio commented in relation to her involvement to the intramural scene.

In classic intramural fashion, Lindsay's preparation for intramural games is limited. Hours before the game, Lindsay can typically be found procrastinating homework, and carbo-loading on a pre-game staple: Chicken Lo Mein. Always appreciated, too, are rides to the game that inevitably end up in a jam session that threatens the integrity of her haphazard and half-hearted pre-game stretching routine.

Finally, when asked to comment on how intramural sports help to keep the athletes in shape, Cerio laughed.

"Haha, no -- they don't. Forty minutes of running does not keep you in shape."

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