Senior Chris Holmes plays as a midfielder for UCA’s men’s soccer team.

This position requires a great deal of running, because it requires him to play both offense and defense during games.

Holmes said playing soccer at UCA is very demanding, but  that he enjoys the challenge.

He said the challenge is actually his favorite part of playing soccer.

Due to the challenging environment him and his teammates share, he has made his best friends through playing soccer at UCA.

Holmes loves the sense of community he feels from being on the soccer team.

Due to their shared experiences and large amount of time together, it has been easy for him and his team to bond. His team trains five days a week for about two hours per day. Additionally, his team plays one or two games a week, and the team travels every other week for an away game.

“When we are doing fitness, we suffer together,” Holmes said. “When we are winning, we are celebrating together.”

Holmes loves the opportunity of playing soccer with his best friends.

“Seeing them work hard makes me want to work hard,” Holmes said.

Even though Holmes loves soccer, he doesn’t like that it causes him to miss school.

“It’s hard to get back in the swing of things after missing school,” Holmes said.

Before each class his team misses, he and his teammates let their professors know they will be missing.

Holmes said he dislikes playing soccer in the rain and the cold.

His friends outside of soccer are very understanding of his busy schedule, and they often spend time together studying.

His friends care about school, so they put a lot of effort into keeping good grades he said.

When Holmes is not playing soccer or studying, he is either hiking, drinking coffee or spending time with his family.

One major aspect Holmes loves about soccer is the workout. He enjoys working out and the fact that soccer makes working out enjoyable.

Holmes has a great deal of experience playing soccer. He has played soccer for 13 years, initially starting because his mom signed him up. He went along with it and started to enjoy the sport.

Holmes played other sports besides soccer such as baseball, tee-ball and tennis when he was younger.

Holmes will continue to play soccer after graduation. He wants to play soccer for a year or two once he gets his degree.

Holmes is majoring in health service administration and is considering getting a master’s degree before working in a hospital.

Holmes said soccer taught him life lessons like the importance of pushing yourself further even when you can’t seem to go any further, because you can. He has also learned the importance of working hard.

Soccer also helped Holmes gain time management skills, which he can use for the rest of his life he sad.