Wednesday, August 31, 2005
While Missy Geha was playing soccer in high school, her older sister Amy was busy playing midfield for the Jayhawks. After Amy was named first team All Big 12 and second team All Central Region last year, one may think that freshman midfielder Missy Geha would be ready to get out of her sister’s shadow.
Not at all.
Missy Geha, 2004 Kansas Gatorade High School Soccer Player of the Year, actually likes following in the footsteps of her older sister Amy, who played for the Kansas soccer team from 2001 to 2004.
“I would never want to get out of her shadow, because she’s such a good player, and it gives me something to look forward to.” Geha said.
Photo by Justin O'Neal
KANSAN
Freshman midfielder Missy Geha prepares to pass around a Wisconsin defender during the game Sunday afternoon in Topeka. KU soccer runs in the family; Geha's older sister Amy was a senior midfielder for the team last season.
Following her four-year career at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Missy Geha signed to play at Kansas the same spring that her sister graduated, giving the Jayhawks four more years with a Geha on the roster.
Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis, last year’s Big 12 Coach of the Year, was at Kansas for all four of Amy Geha’s years on the field, and recruited her younger sister. It’s not difficult to tell the players apart, he said.
“Other than the name on the back of the jersey and a small family resemblance, it’s really not that hard,” Francis said. “They are two different types of players.”
Consider the difference in their sizes: Missy Geha stands at 5 feet 6 inches, while her older sister looks up to her at only 5 feet 2 inches.
“Physically, Missy is a lot bigger and stronger than Amy,” Francis said. “It makes her very tough to beat defensively.”
Missy Geha agreed that she had a size advantage on her older sister, but said that doesn’t mean she’s a better player.
“I am bigger than her, but she is a lot quicker than me,” Geha said, who recalled playing her older sister in the back yard on numerous occasions. “They were pretty intense battles, and with our differences it evened out every once in a while.”
Francis has been pleased with Geha’s performance in practice this season and attributes some of her success to her ability to catch on to new skills.
“She has started out really well,” Francis said. “She is playing a position she is used to playing, but not in a formation that has three midfield players. So she is still adjusting to that a little bit. She is a very quick learner.”
Despite her recent high school success, Missy Geha remains humble. When asked about her greatest strength, she was speechless.
“I don’t have one,” Geha said. “Ill do anything they need me to do. I am just going to work as hard as I can to help the team win.”
Though only a freshman, Geha is ready to fill her sister’s shoes.
— Edited by Becca Evanhoe
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