By: Maddie Crews
KENNESAW, Ga. - As Camryn Simmons enters her fifth season with the Owls, there is only one thing on her mind: winning it all.
Simmons was recruited her sophomore year of high school to play at KSU. She immediately admired what the Owls had to offer. She loved that she was close to Atlanta and was close to her family, but one factor stood out the most.
"I loved how the team was together. You could just tell they were a family," said Simmons.
Her relationship with head coach Benji Walton started during her recruitment process, but it has flourished since she has been at KSU.
"It's been quite the journey," Simmons said. "I was so intimidated and nervous when I first met him and now a lot of us older players have a really good relationship with him."
Coach Walton holds Simmons in high regard and foresees her as a leader coming into this season. He wants her to remind players coming into the program what the Kennesaw State standard is.
"She's a legacy player for us because when I first got here, we were in the semifinals one year, then the quarterfinals the next and then 2019, we finally broke through and got to the championship game," Walton said. "She was there a part of that first team that set the tone for the next era in our program."
Simmons stated that she didn't believe anyone would remember her when she left high school but is grateful that she has made an impression on the coaching staff at KSU.
Simmons is the only player left from Kennesaw State's first run in the ASUN Conference Final back in 2019. After getting so close to being champions three separate times, she wants to bring KSU to the finish line.
"It would mean so much to me and honestly, it would just mean so much to me for my old teammates," said Simmons. "A lot of them joke around like 'I'd be so mad if you guys won when we're gone' but I just know they would be so proud of us, and it would just feel like everything came full circle."
Simmons has played several different positions on the field over her career. She started as a forward her freshman year then became a force in the midfield to now as a center back role for the Owls.
"I now have more of an appreciation for people who play other positions. I understand how frustrating it is as a forward when you miss or when it feels like nothing is going right, Simmons
said. "It gives me a better understanding of what my teammates are going through, and it helps me encourage them more on the field."
Walton believes Simmons' biggest strength is her reliability. She is the player that will welcome anyone into the fold and is the same player who will hit you the hardest when the ball rolls out.
While many of Simmons's other teammates moved on from KSU, she wasn't ready to leave just yet. There is more she has to do here.
"I just can't see myself going to a different program and fitting in as well as I do here," said Simmons. "It just feels like we have a lot of unfinished business."
As much as Simmons wants to win the ASUN Championship for the Owls, that isn't the only impression she wants to leave. She wants people to know her as a person who made them smile and laugh.
"Obviously I want people to think I was a good player, but at the end of the day, if people think I was a good person and remember me like that then that's all I really want," said Simmons. "Soccer changes all the time and the relationships here are what's going to last when soccer is over."
Simmons has been fighting for the ASUN Championship since her freshman year and that drive won't stop this season. Fans can expect to see determination and resilience from this team until that last bell blows over the stadium.
"I think it just lit my fire and other people's as well because it's like 'we have to do this now',"Â Simmons said. "I want to finish what the older players started when I first got here."
