Junior Ashley Pennie officially committed to the University of North Carolina in August of 2022.

Pennie has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old when her Mom encouraged her to give it a try.

“There was a soccer program through my school that all my friends were in, so my mom signed me up,” Pennie said.

Her mom and dad have been supporting her throughout her entire soccer journey, and always encourage her to be her best.

“My parents are probably my biggest supporters because they’ve dedicated so much time to taking me to practice, which is all the way in Davy,” Pennie said.

Pennie now plays for the club team, Florida United, which has a great community of girls who have a similar love for the game and competitive drive.

“The environment I play at is super competitive and my coach is really professional about having us train so we can always perform to the best of our ability,” Pennie said.

With a busy practice schedule of practice 4 times a week for 2 hours each and travel or home games on the weekends, she does a great job at juggling school work and a social life.

“I don’t wait till the last minute, so I try to get most of my work done in school, before practice,” Pennie said.

Following in the footsteps of one of her soccer idols, Emily Fox, Pennie will be playing soccer on scholarship at UNC.

“My favorite women’s soccer player is Emily Fox because she is very fast and has a lot of technical skill, so hopefully the program at UNC will make me stronger as well and increase my chances of going pro,” Pennie said.

Along with Emily Fox, UNC’s women’s soccer team has many other notable alumni who have gone pro, such as Mia Hamm, Tisha Lea Venturini, Sarina Wiegman, and Heather O’Reilly. 

“I’m so happy to be going to UNC because it’s the only school I’ve ever wanted to go to, my dream school,” Pennie said. “I want to play professional soccer, and while professional women’s soccer is getting increasingly better and more competitive, UNC prepares very well for that.”

UNC has an exceptional women’s soccer program that is considered to be the best in the United States. The team has won 21 of the 38 NCAA National Championships and 23 of the 27 Atlantic Coast Conference championships. The team participates in the NCAA Tournament annually and holds an all time record of 496 wins over less than 100 losses and ties combined.

To anyone who hopes to achieve as much success as she has in soccer thus far, Pennie’s advice is to “be confident, prepared, stay focused, and understand it won’t come easy but if you’re really passionate about it, it’s a journey worth taking.”