The Nashville Soccer Club (NSC) Unified team held its signing day on March 26 at GEODIS Park, where new and returning athletes signed their player contracts, received their official kits and were welcomed to the NSC family. Athlete Braden Jenkins and Unified Partner Kathryn Morphy have secured their spot on this year's roster, bringing new talent to this ambitious team.
Jenkins, of Williamson County, has competed in Special Olympics programming for ten years. He serves as an athlete leader for Special Olympics Tennessee and has participated in flag football, basketball and track and field on both the local and state level. The NSC Unified team brings Jenkins his first-ever soccer team experience and he is ecstatic about it. Additionally, NSC Unified has already made some of Jenkins’ dreams come true.
“I've always wanted to do something like signing for a sport and I sign in front of everybody kind of like how high schoolers do it,” Jenkins said. “For me, that just made it feel real.”
Jenkins is thrilled to befriend his new teammates on this Unified team in traveling to away games and learning more about being the team's goalie from coaches Aaron Addis and Misty Germek.
Kathryn Morphy, also of Williamson County, joins her older sister and NSC Unified returning member Caroline on the team. The multisport athlete can compete with her sister for the first time through NSC Unified.
“[Caroline] is only two years older than me," said Morphy. "We've been super close our whole lives, but we've never really been able to do the same things. Being on a Unified team together is just super fun and I'm super excited.”
Following in her sister's footsteps, Morphy experienced tryouts and signing day herself this year. When interviewing for the team, she explained what a spot on this team meant to her.
“I'm just really excited to be a part of this team and impact other kids' lives like I've seen my sister be impacted,” Morphy stated. “I saw how much of an impact it had on her life, and how fun she had playing it so I thought it would be just a super fun opportunity to join in.”
NSC Unified will head to the pitch on May 18 for their first match against Atlanta FC. To learn more about Unified Sports,click here.
