Emerson Batson, Teen Soccer Trainer and Influencer
One of the things we’re most proud of at Girls Soccer Network is the discovery of talent that exists around girls and the sport of soccer. We’re not just talking about the dazzling goal scorers or National Team recruits. This is about girls doing something to further advance their relationship with the game in various ways and, even more importantly, sharing it with the community at large. We’re talking about players like Emerson Batson of Lake Wylie, South Carolina, whose skills and training videos have earned her a following of over 100k, and she’s only a junior in high school.
It didn’t just happen overnight. Emerson, a GSN Ambassador since 2022, has been playing soccer since she was a little kid. She started at the age of five, with her dad as her first coach. Like many kids, she began in recreational soccer and took a strong interest in the sport from a young age. None of her siblings showed a real interest in soccer, but Emerson kept practicing, getting better, and eventually landed at the ECNL’s Charlotte Soccer Academy. It’s there she honed her skills and developed into the player she is now. She likes to play anywhere, especially as a number 6 in the midfield, where her incredible ball control and vision can create moments of brilliance. It’s no surprise her favorite players are Lindsey Horan, Julie Ertz, and Mallory Swanson.
Emerson got into making training videos at the age of eleven. She wasn’t doing it to bide her time or even to help other kids at that time. Quite the contrary, she was doing it to prove a point. After being cut from a team, she felt like she had to prove herself. Instead of giving up, she dug in and started to work on her game all alone and, in that process, fell in love with the game in a way she never had. Part of that was suddenly wanting to do her part in growing the sport, so she started making training videos that players could use to get to the same place she was – excited about getting better. “Honestly, it’s crazy to me the amount of support I have gathered over the years. I have never aimed to grow my account, but I interact with my followers as much as I can, and that’s really helped to spread the word and keep people coming back.”
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Girls Soccer Network is thrilled to be able to give Emerson the platform to showcase her incredible soccer skills videos for the month of November. Each Tuesday, we will publish an original video on our Instagram feed by Emerson. She knows the secret to success is to stay focused and consistent. Little by little, your game will improve, and you’ll be in a better place. Case in point, Emerson just committed to her dream school, Louisiana Tech, a Division I school that plays in the Conference USA. Aside from the hard work and focus on her number one choice of schools, she feels social media really helped during the college recruiting process. Posting her highlights and being able to communicate with programs through DMs were a great way to stay on the school’s radars.
“My advice for girls starting out is to stay consistent. Not every day will be easy, and some days you will feel unmotivated, but if you really want to become the best version of yourself on and off the field, you need to stay disciplined. Set goals, and work towards them, but also understand perfection is not what you should aim for, but instead progress!”
Emerson credits her family and their support, from motivation to washing dirty uniforms, for her ability to accomplish so much, at so young. “They are my biggest supporters, and I can’t thank them enough!”
You can catch Emerson on Girls Soccer Network’s Instagram page each Tuesday throughout the month of November on our training series, “Tuesday Touches.”
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