It had been more than 15 years since she dominated Division 1 soccer in the U.S., but the Sault’s Lauren Podolski finally got her call to the hall.
Breaking nearly every offensive record on the Indiana State University women’s soccer team between 2004 and 2007, Podolski was joined by family, teammates, and dignitaries at the school this past weekend to celebrate her induction into the ISU Sports Hall of Fame.
She’s the first and only soccer player in the school’s history to be recognized with such distinction, and one of just a handful of Canadians to join the impressive list of former athletes.
“It was such a great honour,” she says. “It’s been a long journey, but I’ve had so much support.”
Raised in the Sault by her parents Garry and Leanna, Podolski grew up playing on the local civics’ teams, and she has fond memories of training on the side with her dad at various soccer fields around town.
“I’ve always played soccer since I was really young,” she says. “My parents put me in all kinds of sports, but I really excelled at soccer.”
“I was pretty young when I realized it was something I wanted to do. The sport was always really natural to me. I loved playing on a team, and it was just such a fun experience.”
Podolski says she really began to develop her game as a teenager during the three summers she spent playing on the Sudbury Canadians, where she received provincial exposure by competing in Ontario’s top girl’s soccer league.
Making a name for herself early on, Podolski earned the Under-17 Ontario Provincial Soccer League scoring title in 2002, and she was recognized with the high school athlete of the year award at Korah Collegiate – twice.
Near the end of her Sudbury stint, Podolski was scouted by Indiana State’s head women’s soccer coach Vernon Croft during a Burlington showcase tournament.
“The coach flew all the way to the Sault to have dinner with me and my family and persuaded me to go to Indiana State,” she says. “I ended up getting a scholarship, which was a dream of mine since I was little.”
After graduating from Korah in 2004, then 17-year-old Podolski headed to Indiana State to begin a four-year soccer journey where she would end up claiming every offensive record in the books.
To this day, she still holds the records for points (70), points per game (1.04), goals (25), assists (20), shots (184), and shots on goal (89).
“I was a forward my whole life because I really liked scoring goals,” she says.
Podolski also tied the single game record for assists with nine in her 2006 season.
While she was etching her name into the school’s history books, Podolski says she wasn’t thinking about her record-breaking moments until her time with Indiana State came to an end.
“I never focused on the records,” she says. “I just focused on each game and lived in the moment. I never thought about the stats until it was all over.”
“I have to give a lot of recognition to my teammates because I wouldn’t have been that successful without that group of people with me.”
“Each game was a new game. “We wanted to win, and that’s all that I really thought about.”
“I really liked Vernon as a coach because he was super motivating, and the girls made me really feel at home.”
Last weekend, Podolski got to return to the place where she made countless memories.
She was among five former athletes and coaches who were inducted into the ISU Sports Hall of Fame, joining the ranks of iconic sportspeople like Larry Bird.
The festivities included a banquet, speeches, and awards ceremony, and Podolski was presented with a plaque that will forever hang inside the walls of her former school.
“I think it validates all the hard work, time, and dedication I’ve put into this sport,” she says. “It’s a huge accomplishment, but I worked hard at it.
“Being recognized like that is just a huge honour.”
Along with six of her former teammates, Podolski visited the current women’s soccer team where she had the chance to share her experience and offer the players some advice.
Last Saturday, Indiana State put Podolski and the other inductees up in a suite at a Sycamores basketball game, and they brought her out to center court to acknowledge her for everything she accomplished in her career.
“The whole weekend was so memorable,” she says. “They really get it right in the States. It was amazing.”
Now at 36 years old, Podolski is living just outside of Barrie where she enjoys her work as a sales consultant at a car dealership.
She still makes regular trips to the Sault for visits with family and friends at Christmas and in the summer.
“It’s always so nostalgic going back,” she says. “I wish I could visit more.”
As a young girl growing up in small town Sault Ste. Marie, Podolski admits there were times where it seemed like it was implausible to earn a scholarship in the States and make it big in the sport.
But she urges young local soccer players to never give up on their ambitions.
“You’re going to go through ups and downs, and you’re going to get cut from teams,” she says.
“There are going to be people who aren’t going to believe in you, and there will be others who do. You just have to listen to the ones who are motivating and encouraging you to go as far as you can.”