Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
Saints Peter and Paul High senior Leila Robinson grew up listening to stories from her great grandmother Janice Edmondson about her great grandfather, Charles, a Dorchester County circuit and district court judge.
Robinson loved every minute of these family reminiscences. Ever since then, she’s had her sight set on being a lawyer. She will attend Rhoades College in Memphis on an academic scholarship in the fall.
“I think that’s what I can be best at,” says Robinson, who carries a weighted 4.7 grade-point average and will play soccer at the Division III school. “I like how lawyers advocate for people. I want people to have a voice and I want to fight for what is right. I am good at arguments and building a case. I am very outspoken and just never back down—ever.”
Besides the law, and soccer, she has plenty of enthusiasm for volunteering.
Robinson, a Cambridge resident, helps out at Special Olympics events, coaches rec soccer, and is a member of her school’s National Honor Society, the community-service oriented Key Club, and the Eco-Discovery Club, which works on environmental projects.
It’s the Special Olympics that has left a lasting impression on her.
“I have had an amazing time with Special Olympics,” she says. “It was an eye-opening experience. I had never worked with people with disabilities. They all were so genuine and grateful. It warms my heart that I can help them.”
She also does volunteer work near Cancun, Mexico, where her family owns a vacation home. Robinson, who speaks Spanish fluently, helps clean up beaches and is a certified rescue scuba diver with a local dive shop called Scuba Garrido.
“One of my big things is the environment,” she says. “When I go down there, I always participate in the beach cleanup.”
Robinson is as sharply focused on her volunteer work as she is with soccer. Her coaches rave about her leadership, versatility, and work ethic.
She’s a productive player on the stat sheet. Robinson led Saints Peter and Paul in goals (10) and assists (15) during her junior years as the Sabres went 9-1-1 and won the Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference.
The midfielder and three-year starter had two assists in the title win over The Salisbury School.
“Her skill level was well above everybody else’s on the team,” Saints Peter and Paul Girls Soccer Coach Jess Kile says. “And she always had the drive to be better. She was always asking, ‘How can I improve?’ She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen, and she was always trying something new.”
Robinson’s most important skill to her was leadership. She co-captained the team for two years.
“I love it,” she says of being a captain. “I like getting to know the younger players and helping them grow and giving them confidence. I was always there for them, but I was also like, ‘Hey, we are here. We need to get work done.’”
Kile says: “She is our leader on and off the field. She gets us hyped up for the games. She makes sure everyone is doing well in school and keeping their grades up.”
Robinson has played soccer for 11 years and she suited up for Dorchester rec and Eastern Shore YMCA before joining the elite Shore Football Club, which competes in Eastern Development Soccer League throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
“When she joined our club, she started out on defense,” Shore Football Club Coach Mike Leach says. “The last two years, she has become the central part of offense at midfield and forward. A lot of the girls that play defense just don’t have the skills to play offensive.”
Once at Rhoades, the 17-year-old Robinson plans to continue her volunteer work while concentrating on academics. She even took nine advance-placement classes at Saints Peter and Paul.
“She does more than average people combined,” Kile says. “She is always out there doing something. It’s very rare that she is sitting at home just relaxing. It’s always soccer, school, or helping people out.”
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