Emilia Kapusta, known more as “Emi,” is a current senior at Fenwick. Emi has grown up in the suburb of La Grange, attended St. Cletus for grade school, and followed in her older brother’s footsteps of choosing Fenwick for high school. Starting at a young age, Emi was encouraged by her dad to play soccer. She continued that passion by joining the La Grange Celtics Soccer Club and playing for the Fenwick women’s team. She made varsity her freshman year. During her junior year, before the pandemic, she was recruited by DePauw University, a D3 college located in Greencastle, Indiana. To know more about Emi’s soccer career, I asked her a few questions: 

Q&A with Emi Kapusta:

Claire Woods (C. W.): How did you get into soccer?

Emi Kapusta (E. K.): Well, my dad. My grandpa grew [up] playing soccer in Poland, so that greatly influenced my dad playing soccer. So, then, he was kind of hard on all of us [referring to her siblings] to get into it. I grew to love it through my family! Basically how I got into it was my dad!

C. W.: How long have you been playing soccer for? 

E. K.: I played for AYSO literally since preschool. We were the yellow bumble bees. I didn’t really get serious about it until about second or third grade. That’s when I started playing club.

C. W.: What clubs have you played for?

E. K.: Well, I have played for La Grange Celtics since second or third grade. I would look at a different club to get more of an intense feel, but I always came back to [the] Celtics.

C. W.: What was your most memorable moment you have had with the Fenwick women’s soccer team?

E. K.: I have two or three significant moments. My first one was definitely making the varsity team my freshman year. I was just really honored to get that position and [to] genuinely [get] playing time my freshman year. It was such an intense team and a great atmosphere. My second is definitely when we won sectionals my sophomore year. I scored one of the goals towards the end of the game to get us into penalty kicks. So, that was really cool. I was really proud of myself. Then, I scored a goal against St. Ignatius College Prep. Even though we lost the game, Ignatius is one of the most known really good soccer teams in our division. So, it was pretty cool to have a good game against them.

C. W.: Can you describe the recruitment process you had with DePauw University?

E. K.: I know this goes for a lot of sports, but especially women’s soccer, the recruitment process starts really early. I remember filming my games since eighth grade or freshman year. Getting people to bring cameras, film, pictures, and having them make my videos to send out to colleges. One is Anissa Nourse, who brought my attention to the benefits of playing D3. That swayed my opinion because I also wanted the full college experience while playing a sport I love. I decided to look at DePauw and go to their I.D. Camp there a little more than a year ago. After the first day, I got an offer. 

C. W.: What interested you in DePauw?

E. K.: I love Fenwick and it just reminded me of the same atmosphere, but—I know it’s hard to imagine—more welcoming. It’s such a pretty campus and it’s a small school, but the campus makes it feel big. When I met the team, they were all super fun and close. They hang out outside soccer too. It seemed like a genuine school to go to.

C. W.: What is your advice to anyone wanting to further their high school soccer career?

E. K.: Definitely there are going to be points where you feel like giving up and that happens anywhere in your life I feel like, but you just have to persevere through that. That’s one of the key moments, especially in my life and my career through soccer. There were a lot of points where I felt like giving up and not playing soccer anymore, but know you just have to push through and realize that it’s what you love.

     The Fenwick community is so excited for Emi’s future soccer and academic career. We cannot wait to see how successful she becomes! Don’t forget us when you’re famous!