A family connection is part of the reason Lily Johnsey finds herself as a starter on Connors State College young soccer team. “My mom taught at Connors, and I took concurrent Connors classes in high school, so I’ve been around the school a long time,” said the Muskogee High alum.“ Lily is a soccer player all the way, growing up in a family where her father was a soccer coach. She started on a small team when she was about five and quickly advanced to club soccer and eventually on to the Muskogee High soccer team where she was a defender for three years and a striker for her senior campaign. But self-doubt was always a bit of a problem for the Connors sophomore. “I started out a little rough at Muskogee, kind of lacking confidence in myself. I even thought about quitting my freshman year, but my dad and coaches built me back up and I stuck with it, and it ended up being one of the best experiences of my lifetime because of all the friends and connections I made that I still have today,” said Lily. “Probably the highlight of my time at Muskogee was getting our first district win my junior year because it was always so hard to play the big Tulsa area schools that were in our district.” She was undecided about playing at the next level after high school, but a persistent Connors coach Adam Skolnick and a couple of friends talked her into playing for the Cowgirls.” My friends Emily Christensen, Sahra Khajavi and my cousin Rhegan Summerhill really helped me that first year because I was pretty anxious and wondered if I was good enough,” said Johnsie. “Lily was a little shy coming in as a freshman, but she’s really blossomed this year becoming a vocal leader of the team and keeping the team together,” said Skolnick. “She’s an elite defender that’s very athletic and it’s always nice to have a local player in your starting lineup.” As her time at Connors is drawing to a close, Lily says she’s enjoyed her experiences on the Warner campus. “I’ve enjoyed all the professors and the atmosphere here and I think the team is much closer this year which has made it nice.” After her time as a Cowgirl, Lily says she might try playing soccer at a four-year school with an eye towards becoming a veterinarian someday.
