Issue date: 9/18/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrick Clayton [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrick Clayton [Click to enlarge]

Aggie blood runs deep in junior midfielder Rachel Shipley. With a quiet nature and a driven attitude, Shipley is living up to the expectations set before her.

Shipley's list of Aggie ties includes the likes of John J. Koldus, her grandfather, who was vice president of student affairs for 20 years. Uncle Ray Childress was a two-time All-American defensive tackle at A&M. And her parents, Todd and Melissa, are also former students.

Head Coach G Guerrieri had a relationship with her family even before Shipley was born.

"I have known members of Rachel's family since before she was born, and I know that being an Aggie was always a dream of hers while growing up," Guerrieri said. "I'm very happy that we had the opportunity to help such a gifted player realize that dream, and we hope that it sets the table for her to achieve many more of her dreams in the last two years of her college career."

As a child, Shipley used to visit her grandparents in the vice president's house on campus and has since been immersed in A&M tradition.

"We would come down from Dallas for the football weekends, visiting with my grandparents and staying with them," Shipley said. "I experienced it at a really young age. I've always wanted to come here after that."

However, even with her strong ties to A&M, Shipley seriously considered scholarship offers from other schools: Notre Dame, Florida and even the University of Texas.



When Shipley visited Texas as a part of her decision process, she said she knew that she had the right priority of soccer in mind, but something wasn't right.

"It wasn't good honestly," Shipley said. "I know a lot of people that go there, but there was nothing good about it. I showed up and the girls weren't that welcoming. I didn't really like the coaches. It didn't really click."

Shipley knew her family would not be thrilled if she went to UT.

"At the time, my parents said they would support me no matter what, and they were really nice about it, but I think they were just lying," Shipley said. "They probably knew I wasn't going to go there anyway."

After the tedious selection process a light bulb finally went off in her head.

"I was like, 'What am I doing? I want to go to A&M,'" Shipley said. "The soccer program is great, but it was more than soccer. I started thinking about all the reasons I loved it to begin with; the people, the traditions, the atmosphere. It's unlike any other place in the country."

Guerrieri and his staff began recruiting Shipley during her sophomore season in high school, but they had their eyes on her prior to that.

"Rachel was someone that we charted very closely through her high school years," Guerrieri said. "We followed her through club and high school, plus we had the opportunity to have her on campus as a Texas A&M soccer camper. We loved her technical prowess and her knack of winning and leading teams that always won. Those are qualities that can't be discounted."

Her teammates said she is well-known around campus and in College Station. All her teammates respect what she brings to the team.

"She's pretty much famous at school," said redshirt freshman forward Shawn-tae Green. "She's really good and a really nice person, so it makes it easy to appreciate her. She gets her work done. She's really quiet and a good teammate. Her freshman year, she was kind of shy and timid so the coaches kind of make fun of her for that."

Shipley's family are regulars at Aggie home games, and Green says she thinks she has the biggest cheering section on the entire team.

"It's always a running joke on the team that Shipley always uses the most tickets on the team for the home games and always has the most fans in her own cheering section," said freshman midfielder Mary Grace Schmidt.

Despite her timid nature, Shipley still has the competitive spirit and is always looking to set her standards as high as possible.

"I want to win a national championship," Shipley said. "The final four is at our home field. It was here my freshman year too and I remember watching USC play and feeling sick to my stomach watching another team hold up the trophy on our field."

As far as her play on the field, Guerrieri said Shipley sets a positive example for the rest of her teammates.

"She's talented enough to do whatever she sets her mind to do and she's quietly driven to achieve her goals," Guerrieri said. "I have no worries about Miss Shipley; she's going to always be a big winner in anything she wants in life."

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