Soccer has been a part of Von Euler’s life since she was 5 years old. Although the forward has been playing the sport for over 17 years, her career as a student athlete has recently taken an exciting turn in her senior year.
Evelina Von Euler, originally from Stockholm, Sweden, has been playing soccer for as long as she can remember. She credits her parents with introducing her to the sport and her active nature as a child for sustaining her passion.
With soccer being such an integral part of Von Euler’s life, it only made sense that she would go on to play soccer in college. When asked about her greatest achievement, the 22-year-old told me this anecdote:
“I remember my first day in high school, our teacher gave us a note and he said, ‘I’ll give you this back in three years when you graduate.’ I wrote down my dream was to go to college and play soccer. When I opened it the last day, I totally forgot that I wrote that … at the time [I already] signed to go to West Virginia, so I feel like that’s one of my greatest achievements.”
At 18, Von Euler left her home in Sweden to pursue playing soccer in the United States at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. After a year on the East Coast, Von Euler transferred to Azusa Pacific in search of a new adventure.
“I loved where I was, but I wanted to develop even more, and I felt like Charleston, West Virginia is kind of a small city. After being there for a year, I felt that I was ready to take the next step and see something else and try soccer on the west coast too because it’s very different,” she said.
Now, at APU, Von Euler is taking full advantage of the opportunities to play her sport.
The 22-year-old plays as a left-wing forward — a position she’s had since her early days in the sport. Von Euler loves the mixture of offense and defense that her position provides. However, she also acknowledges the challenges of her position, revealing that playing as a forward comes with both the pressures and glory of scoring goals.
This past August, however, the pressures of such a position paid off. In a game against Dominguez Hills, Von Euler was put in to play during the last 15 minutes of the game. After scoring two goals, Von Euler received recognition as PacWest player of the week. Since then, the soccer player has been starting games, getting more opportunities to play and gaining confidence in her abilities.
Photo by Holly Magnuson
With responsibilities ramping up, Von Euler also shared some of her biggest challenges as a student athlete. For her, managing time between school, soccer, a social life and family is one of the pressures she faces along with the expectation to continually perform at a high level.
While soccer is one of the biggest parts of Von Euler’s life, APU women’s soccer has provided her with valuable experiences off the field as well.
This past August, Von Euler and the rest of the women’s soccer team had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Vicente Guerrero, Mexico. Despite the apprehension of never having gone on a mission trip, Von Euler said the new experience was both memorable and meaningful.
“I feel like I grew a lot closer to my teammates [and] I got to serve for others, which was amazing. I found joy in that, and that’s something that I want to keep doing. I feel like that [trip] set the tone for mission trips for me and I found something in life that I want to keep doing,” she said.
Attending a Christian university was not something Von Euler had planned on, but it’s given her other ways to explore her faith in addition to a mission trip. When offered the chance to play at Azusa Pacific, Von Euler thought about her mom, a Christian, who often told her that everything happens for a reason.
“When I heard [APU] was a Christian University, I was like, ‘Maybe this is my calling. Maybe this is when I’m going to start building a relationship with God.’ It’s been a journey for sure because it’s not something that I want to put on myself. I feel like I want it to come more naturally and it’s definitely gone slow … but it’s given me a step closer in the right direction,” she said.
With only a few weeks left in the season, Von Euler shared some of her hopes for herself and the team. She believes the team has really gelled this season and that they have a good shot at making it to the postseason.
“I feel like a big thing for this season has been growing as a team and developing our skills together, and I feel like we’ve come a [long] way in that. I see a big change from the start of the season to now. Growing together has been one of the biggest goals,” she said.
After graduating, Von Euler told me it’s her dream to start her own event company or to work in event coordinating. Most recently, she received an internship as the event intern here on campus.
Although Von Euler is from Sweden, her mother is American and Von Euler herself has dual citizenship in Sweden and the U.S., giving her the option to move back to Stockholm or stay in California.
“If I want to start my own company, I’m going to have a bigger chance of doing it here than Sweden because events are really big here compared to Sweden. Plus, the weather’s better here and there’s more outdoor events compared to Sweden,” she said.
Staying in the U.S., while good for her career, would also present some cultural challenges for the Swedish native. Although she’s grown used to her independence and appreciates the friendly, welcoming behavior of Americans, Von Euler also recognizes that being away from family would be difficult.
“The hardest thing about being [far] from home is probably just my family and friends that I’ve grown up with my whole life. Coming here, I didn’t know anyone, so it was very scary at first … my everyday life is very different [at] home than it is here,” she said.
Von Euler’s teammates tackler her to the ground in excitement over the two goals
No matter where she ends up living or what she ends up doing, Von Euler wanted to emphasize that her family is everything to her. She credits her parents and older brother for all she’s been able to accomplish up until this point.
“They’re the reason why I’m here. I wouldn’t be here without them,” she said.
If you haven’t already, be sure to cheer on the Lady Cougars at their last home game of the season this Saturday at 5 p.m. against Hawai’i Hilo!