I grew up in Santa Fe, Argentina. In my hometown I played soccer primarily with and against boys and men. In the United States I played soccer at San Diego Mesa College and at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. I have also played on many indoor and outdoor soccer teams. I have played on all female teams and on coed teams, being champions many times. I have even played Gaelic football and was named rookie of the year in 2010. In the past I was invited to and attended the Pro Soccer Combine run by InfoSport. Some of the comments from the coach at the combine were “has the courage to take players on,” “plays with a lot of confidence…has good ideas.”

I consider myself an offensive player. But I am willing to play defense and I have also played goalkeeper. I am a creative player with excellent passing skills and ball control. I considered myself a midfield/forward. I am a play maker. I have vision in the field. I try to make the players around me better. On more than one occasion I have been told that I play like my countryman, Messi. I am the first to concede that I do not have Messi’s incredible talent, but like most players from Argentina I believe I have the game in my blood. I understand the ebb and flow of the game and this understanding allows me to anticipate what will happen. I am mentally strong, physically fit, and quick. I am confident in my abilities, have great endurance and am willing to fight for the ball. I’m a fighter in the field. In one clinic I went a long time ago in Minnesota, the coach running it, the first thing he told me is that I’m a striker. Definition to score and to place the ball well (accuracy) are my strengths too. In one game, I was close to do a hat trick. I have a cold mind to be relaxed and focused when needed. One of my unique skills is that I can kick the ball well with my right and left foot. This skill gives me many advantages on the soccer pitch.

I’m a player that is very cooperative in the field with the rest of the team; doing sacrifices running up and down when it’s needed. I believe in the team playing together and my style is to play on the ground, with good touch and controlling the flow of the game in the middle. And if I lose the ball, I fight for it right away to recover it.

Something interesting happen to me last year is that in one of the leagues I’ve played for years, I became a goalie without looking for it. When I switched teams, the new team needed a goalie temporarily because the regular goalkeeper wasn’t coming yet. Well she never showed up and I ended up been the regular keeper which is fine with me since I do it for the team. I want the team to win. A side note about goalkeeping is that since a kid I also play goalie but in pickup games and scrimmages. At the University of Minnesota and when I was playing in Argentina in other leagues (I have a very important soccer background in my country) I’ve always been a field player, not goalie. But I’m good at goalie and people know it. One of my strengths is my reflexes and that’s key for goalkeeper. At the same time I’m an aggressive player and not afraid to come out of the box in breakthroughs and so forth. So this last year, in this particular team I’ve been the regular goalkeeper and my performance has been so outstanding that many teams in other divisions asked me to help them out not only as goalie but also as field player. I even saved penalty kicks.

It’s worthy to mention that in Argentina, I started my own women’s league from scratch and run it when I was playing in a team at the same time for many years. I was one of the founders of an official independent women’s league in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. As manager I took care of many things such as media, and paperwork. Everything came out of our own pocket and we did out of love for the game. After few years, it was added to the men’s league and that was when I had the opportunity to come to the University of Minnesota, Crookston to be a scholarship athlete. So my experience is still very significant, breaking a lot of barriers in my own country.

I have licenses to coach soccer in Argentina and the United States. I have coached youth teams for many years on a volunteer basis in this country. Soccer has been my lifelong passion. I love it. I want to play at the highest level, even if it is for a limited time in my life. I’m not giving up as a player. I am confident if I am provided an opportunity to play at this level I will do well. I am also confident that I will help my teammates and my team. One of my advantages is that I have double citizenship since my father is from Italy. Therefore, I have Italian passport having an open door to the European community. That’s an important benefit for the team.

I don’t want to finish without saying that my place is in a professional team, club and I’ve been looking for that opportunity all my life. I can be contacted at Lforati@yahoo.com