Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
North Caroline High senior Ashley Wildt is soccer crazy. She’ll do as many activities with the sport as possible. Between high school and the Shore Football Club, she plays the sport year-round. She is especially busy with soccer in the winter.
Wildt plays on three different teams outside of high school: Shore Football Club, a Caroline County Recreation Indoor team, and a pickup team at the Crown Facility in Fruitland. On top of that, she referees young players in a Caroline County Recreation league.
Wildt, a defender, has received soccer honors throughout high school.
“It’s such a big passion of mine,” Wildt says. “I would want my kids to play soccer. It’s a time where I can be myself and get stuff off my mind. I just couldn’t see myself not playing soccer. I don’t have time to slow down when it comes to soccer. Life would be so boring without it.”
The Greensboro resident started coaching last year, helping out as an assistant for a Shore Football Club U-12 team. It’s something she wants to do more of when she finishes her playing career. “I definitely want to coach soccer when I get out of college,” Wildt says. “I want to be the head coach at North Caroline High school. It’s pretty important to me.”
The 18-year-old enjoys working with kids away from soccer, as well. She is doing an internship at Greensboro Elementary as part of a program through Chesapeake College, where she’ll be taking classes in the spring semester. “I want to work as a teacher at a local elementary school,” says Wildt, who will major in elementary education in college.
When it comes to soccer, Shore Football Club Coach Mike Leach says Wildt’s tremendous work ethic has made her the kind of player that colleges covet. “She has really worked hard to make herself someone who can play in college now,” says Leach, who also works as assistant soccer coach at nearby Easton High. “She is more focused on soccer, where other girls play different sports than she does.”
Wildt has wanted to play college soccer since the seventh grade. Coastal Carolina, Virginia Wesleyan, Salisbury, and the University of Tampa top her list.
“She knows what she has to do to be successful at the next level,” Leach says. “With her determination, she will be very focused on being the best player she can be.” Leach points out that the growth he’s seen in Wildt during her five years with the Shore Football Club has been tremendous. SFC plays against the best players in the Mid-Atlantic region.
“She became an All-Conference player (in 2021) by her hard work and determination,” Leach says. “She was nominated for an All-State team.”
Wildt started for four years at North Caroline, and the Bayside Conference named her an honorable mention selection as both a sophomore and junior. This past fall, she earned First-Team honors while serving as co-captain of North Caroline.
Wildt is 5-foot-3, but she plays much bigger than her size. “You just don’t get past her,” North Caroline Girls Soccer Coach Jenna Riordan says. “She is very feisty and strong. She is one tough player.”
Riordan says Wildt will stay involved with soccer for a long time after college. Her interest in the sport is off the charts. “I think soccer consumes her life in the best way possible,” Riordan explains. “She lives for it. It’s her passion, hobby, and stress relief. Soccer is everything to her.”
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