By Scott Brinton
The opposing team was the UCLA women's squad, which is among the top college squads in the country, with four members who play for the U.S. national team.
It didn't hurt that Ayinde, 18, an East Meadow Soccer Club star from North Bellmore, was playing with the U.S. national team in the U18 (under age 18) pool for the February contest. "We were really nervous going in," Ayinde said. "We didn't overlook the fact that they're UCLA, but we thought, We're the national team. We have a really good chance."
Indeed, they did.
Ayinde, whose coaches describe her as "lightning in a bottle," played defense. She had been practicing a surprise attack with her team. When she spotted an opportunity to steal the ball, she'd take it, dribble up field and sprint to the goal rather than pass off to the offense. Early in the game she did just that, racing upfield toward the UCLA goal and launching a hard shot from 30 yards out. The ball whooshed into the net. Ayinde scored the game's first goal.
The U18 pool was on its way to beating UCLA 4-2. Ayinde was noted as a standout in the game.
The big matchup was part of a week-long camp that the U18 pool was participating in through the Olympic Developmental Program. The team also played Pepperdine and UC Irvine, both Division I powerhouses - and won both games.
"It was really exciting" to score against UCLA, Ayinde said, "especially because it was the first goal. It set a tone where we were thinking we had a really good chance in the game."
With performances like Ayinde had against UCLA, she hopes to move up to the national team's U20 pool, only a step or two from making the Olympic team, her ultimate goal. No matter what, she is headed to the University of Maryland next fall to play soccer for one of the nation's best Division I squads.
She had offers to play for more than 70 schools. The University of Connecticut began scouting her in ninth grade, and started negotiating a possible scholarship as soon as she reached the age of eligibility in 11th grade. Harvard and Columbia, perennial powers in the Ivy League, made offers, along with local favorites St. John's and Hofstra. Ayinde received a full scholarship to Maryland. But she decided to become a Terrapin for one reason. Her cousin, Yewande Balogun, a member of the U20 pool, is the goalie there, and she wanted to play with family.
"I just hope I can help Maryland make it to the NCAA tournament, maybe win it," Ayinde said.
Long road to the top
Ayinde began playing soccer in the Bellmore-North Bellmore Police Activity League at age 6. She then moved to the East Meadow Soccer Club, where her father, Akeem, coaches her team, the Shooting Stars, with Tom Alio.
Akeem said the squad started at the bottom. In tournaments, it was rated a B team; that is, the secondary squad. But the Stars worked hard. And Akeem, an accountant, used the knowledge he gained as a former member of the Nigerian national soccer team to teach the girls the fundamentals of the "beautiful game." From age 10 to 12, Akeem said, the girls played hard. Sade (pronounced shah-day) led the way.
Her mother, Lydia, a health administrator, said her husband is a disciplined coach. "He's tough," she said of Akeem, "and much tougher on his kids." (The Ayindes have four daughters.)
The Shooting Stars' perseverance paid dividends. When Sade turned 12, her squad was rated among the best teams in the Long Island Junior Soccer League. That year, the team took the triple crown of Long Island youth soccer, winning the LIJSL's Division I championship, the Waldbaum's Cup and the State Cup, which propelled the squad into the Region I Premier League, where it played in tournaments from Maine to Florida. Sade still plays for the Shooting Stars. The team, which attracts players from as far as Suffolk County and even Albany, won the Region I Premier League Championship when Sade was 16.
To make the national team pool, Ayinde had to try out, along with thousands of other players from across the Northeast. She was chosen as one of 30 in the Region I pool. She then had to try out in Boca Raton, Fla., in an interregional tournament, with players from across the country.
This year she was awarded All-State honors while playing for Mepham High School, and was named one of the top 30 college draft choices. She has also played for the New York Magic, a premier amateur women's team, and this summer she'll play for the Lady Rough Riders, a professional women's team based on Long Island. And the list of her soccer accomplishments goes on.
And Ayinde is also an outstanding student. She has a 94 average at Mepham, where she is a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, the World of Difference Club and the math team. She won a gold medal at one math fair. She also took part in Mepham's Authentic Science Research Program. And she's a youth leader at the Bellmore Presbyterian Church.
Lydia said her daughter "was always very conscientious about making sure her homework was done." This while playing on two teams - the Mepham squad and the Shooting Stars - each fall season, and practicing five hours or more a day. And she ran winter and spring track for Mepham. Sade admits there were a few sleepless nights along the way.
Lydia credited Sade's soccer coach at Mepham, Jim McManus, with helping to mentor her from seventh grade, when she started playing for the Lady Pirates. Lydia also said the teachers at Mepham have been understanding when it comes to her daughter's intense travel schedule for games and tournaments.
When the pressure's on
Now that Ayinde is nearing the pinnacle of U.S. women's soccer, she said she does not feel the pressure to produce results. She enjoys playing with her U18 teammates, all of whom are competing for a spot on the U20 squad. "It's different from other sports," Ayinde said. "With soccer you have a team atmosphere. I'm close with everyone. It's like a second family, almost."
Ayinde loves soccer because it is as much about mental toughness and physical stamina as it is about ball-handling ability. "You could be not that skillful, but you can have an edge over another player because you have more heart," she said.
Sade has a sister, Sheri, 20, who played soccer at Mepham and is now at the University of Buffalo. And she has twin 14-year-old sisters, Safi and Sali, who started playing for the Mepham squad in eighth grade, and when playing together, they're virtually unstoppable.
"Both my parents are just really supportive," Sade said. "They tell me all the time, if I want to quit, it's OK. They just let me do my thing and help along the way."
And that's how she has come a long, long way from her start in the Bellmore-North Bellmore PAL.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
