Scheid Brings Experience, Maturity To Buffs

BOULDER – As far as a soccer experience goes, Hannah Scheid has competed at just about every different high level of competition over the past five years, short of playing for a national team. She began her post-high school career in 2013 at Ashford University, an NAIA school in San Diego. After a successful freshman season, however, she moved home to play for her hometown club team in the second division of the Bundesliga in Germany. In 2016, she returned to the United States to be at the highest level of NCAA soccer in the Pac-12 at the University of Colorado.

At Ashford in 2013, she had four goals and four assists, starting all 17 matches. But the level of competition and size of the school wasn't she had hoped for and she decided to move back home to Wetzlar, Germany.

"I actually loved the first experience, but it was a really small college," Scheid said. "It was good for me to learn English."

Once back home in Germany, she joined her local club team, Hessen Wetzlar. During the 2014-15 season, she helped the club win the league championship and earn a promotion to the second division of the Bundesliga. She started all 20 matches as a left-outside back and was a team captain in 2015-16 after the team's promotion.

Coming Back To America
But she decided to give an American education one more try during the spring of 2016 and connected with CU head coach Danny Sanchez and associate head coach Jason Green when those two were on a recruiting trip in Germany.

With CU coming off a difficult 2015 season, Sanchez and Green were looking to add an experienced player to the lineup and Scheid fit the bill with her versatility to play anywhere on the left side of the field. After visiting with the two Buffs coaches, she researched the school online and committed to Colorado.

Sanchez and his staff are drawn to players with international experience because of their understanding of the game and attitude in training and preparation.

"The one thing with her, like I've said with a lot of internationals, there's a professionalism to their approach, to their training, a professionalism in their tactical understanding of the game," Sanchez said. "We're hoping that some of those experiences will help with the younger players [on our team], but more importantly, help her help us on the field because tactically she'll understand what we're asking for right away."

Forced To Sit Out 2016 Season
Scheid was preparing to begin her final collegiate season last summer when it was discovered that NCAA transfer rules were going to force her to sit out a season and delay her senior year until 2017. That news was difficult to take, but her attitude has helped her prepare for this season as best as possible.

"She never got down," Sanchez said. "She never relaxed in training. She was always positive with the team and she handled it about as well as you can, knowing though that [every moment] you're this much closer to stepping on the field for the Buffs."

She was there all last season, supporting her teammates on the sideline, while also working to make herself a better player with the 2017 season in sight. She watched CU tie a school record with 15 wins, finish tied for second in the Pac-12, and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

"It was really frustrating at the beginning because you come all that way and you have expectations and you want to have an impact [on the team]," Scheid said. "And then you can't play because of [NCAA] rules. There was one decision to make: 'do I work hard or do I just not care?' I made the decision that, 'I want to work hard and I'm going to set myself behind the team and everything else doesn't really matter. I'm going to work hard and support the team as much as I can.' I think I did that, and this year, I hope to make the best of it."

Ready To Play For 2017
Now just one week away from the season's opening kick and a year older than many college seniors at almost 23 years old, Scheid is looking forward to getting back to competition. Sanchez says that having over a year off between competitive matches will probably have her a bit rusty at first, but the coaches are hoping to get her on the field early in the season to get acclimated to playing consistently again and in-form for Pac-12 play.

"It'll take her a little bit of time to get into the swing of things because it's been a while since she's really played a good stretch of competitive matches, and we realize that," Sanchez said. "It's one thing to train, and it's another thing to play in games. Even at her age, there's going to be a little bit of growing pains early in the season."

Sanchez and his staff are excited about the qualities Scheid brings on the field. She is one of two naturally left-footed players on the team, and as a result, can play anywhere on the left side of the field. That versatility will serve her well as she competes for playing time. She also has a tactical maturity and professional approach to the game.

Having played at a high level in Europe, she believes her experiences will help her at CU.

"It definitely brings me a different aspect," Scheid said. "Because I've played against older women, I was always not the biggest. Coming into the Pac-12 where the intensity is really high, I think that definitely gives me some experience [that compares to the level at CU]."

After Graduation From CU
After the season ends, Scheid will graduate from CU in December with a degree in environmental biology, something she hopes to put to use when she moves back home to Germany. There, she plans on earning her master's degree in bio medicine. But the end of the 2017 season at Colorado will not be the end of her playing career. She will look to balance her studies and soccer once again while she earns her master's.

"I'm going to keep playing because that's what I love to do," Scheid said. "I'll just try to combine it with my studies."

Scheid and the Buffs open the season a week from today on Friday, Aug. 18, at Colorado State at 5 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Hannah Scheid

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