Hillsborough's Victoria Madison's Journey to Division I Soccer

Photography by: Lia Rojos

It’s June 14. The summer before Victoria Madison’s junior year. The clock is minutes away from hitting 12. From it being the first day colleges can reach out to athletes they would like to recruit. The date finally changes to June 15, and a text message shows up on Victoria’s phone from her dream college, the University of Florida. 

Since she was a young girl, Victoria has always loved playing soccer. At just three years old, she was involved in many sports. Alongside soccer, she participated in gymnastics, dance, and karate. Once she got older and started middle school, she moved on to school sanctioned sports like track, basketball, and flag football. However, throughout all those years, soccer was the game that stuck with her. 

When she began her journey, Victoria was just playing for a recreational team and Messi became her role model. She owned practically everything featuring the star, including jerseys and books. As she got more passionate for the game, she joined a club team in third grade. Female players like Crystal Dunn and Sophia Smith joined Messi as Victoria’s role models. While playing club, she also made up the starting lineup for Hillsborough High School’s girls soccer team her sophomore year and was named District Champions.  

Today she plays for Florida Premier FC on their 2007 ECNL Girls team. They are ranked third in the state, first in the ECNL Southeast conference, and currently making their ways towards the ECNL’s Champions League. Her primary position on the field is center back, but she does occasionally move around a bit, playing outside back and defensive midfield when needed.  

Playing for so many years has truly developed Victoria’s love for the game, which goes beyond her passion while playing. When she joined her first team, her coach help set her eyes on the future dream, playing soccer in college. Her close friendship with her teammates results in amazing chemistry on the field and led to their second place in the Southeast conference for the 2022-2023 season.  

“Recently we beat this team Concorde (Fire Platinum) and last year they beat us and there's a bit of controversy last year. So, this year it was like we were winning one zero the whole game. Then last 10 minutes they scored and then like two minutes left, my teammates scored a free kick and we were so excited,” Sophomore Victoria Madison said about her most memorable moment with her team this season. 

However, she will forever remember the night when she was recruited by the UF’s women’s soccer team. Prior to that night, Victoria had formed close relationship with the school’s recruiting staff. After seeing them at a couple of her game’s freshmen year, she reached out through email and asked if they would like to see more games. To her luck, the school’s staff were even able to come out to some of her team’s practices given their proximity. “They emailed me telling me to come to a camp, so I went to a camp. And then at the camp they gave me feedback, told me they really liked me, kept coming to more of my games,” Victoria Madison said.  

Finally, the day came, and on June 15, she was told by UF that they are interested in recruiting her. A few months later, it was officially publicized that Victoria was a committed Gator. With most of her family going to the school and growing up on campus when she was younger, announcing the continuation of both her athletic and academic careers at the University of Florida was very emotional.  

In two years’, even though she will only be a freshman, Victoria hopes to play as much as she can and help the program wherever she can. Looking further into the future, she would love to play professional and represent the U.S.A on their women’s national team. Alongside soccer, Victoria also plans to study psychology or kinesiology. Either major would help her towards a career option as a soccer coach or sports physical therapist. However, with skills and ball knowledge like Victoria, she will do amazing at the University of Florida.