By Catherine O’Hara, REVIEW STAFF

Shanika Thomas is on top of her game.

The Waterdown soccer player, who got her start with the Flamborough Soccer Club, is back in Alabama, where she’ll endure months of intense training alongside her Samford University teammates in hopes of competing on the national stage again next season.

In her second year at the Homewood university, Thomas has enjoyed success on the soccer pitch, including making the Southern Conference (SoCon) All Academics Honours team and clocking 1,974 minutes of game time.

A holding midfielder, Thomas started in each of Samford’s 22 games last season, which saw the Division 1 women’s soccer team go undefeated in their conference to capture the 2011 SoCon title.

The win allowed the 20-player squad to compete in the conference tournament, where the women took gold and earned a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.

During the conference tournament, Thomas was named to the All-Conference Tournament roster. The Waterdown District High School alum also nabbed the tournament’s Most Valuable Player honour.

“We had a really good season,” said Thomas, adding that moving up to the national level of university sports was a great achievement for the Samford girls. “That’s basically the goal of any D1 team.”

Facing off against Florida State in the NCAA tournament, the Alabama players knew they’d need to talk strategy before the match.

Their opponents, ranked sixth in the country, were going to prove athletically superior to the Samford squad. Nonetheless, Thomas and her teammates battled it out in hopes of securing the top spot. “We were just going to play smart,” she said.

Playing a strong defensive game, the Samford girls put pressure on the Florida squad, which paid off. The match remained scoreless at halftime. In the second, players from the Sunshine State notched two goals to claim the win.

On the field, Thomas’s opponents towered over her 5’6” athletic frame. “I couldn’t really win anything in the air,” she noted.

As the season wound down, so did Samford University’s first semester. With a few weeks off, Thomas seized the opportunity to return to Africa, where she spent some time last summer.

During the first part of her two-week trip, she stayed in Kenya, where she volunteered with R.O.C.K. (Reaching Out to Communities in Kenya) Bridge Ministries. There, she witnessed nearly 500 Kenyan families turn out to the compound, where medical professionals volunteered their time, resources and experience to provide care to those in need.

“The medical staff did their thing and those of us who don’t have medical training played with the children all day just to keep them busy,” said Thomas.

After her stint in Kenya, Thomas traveled to Uganda to visit with her mother, Dena, who is currently working at a Ugandan university. There, the Waterdown teen, who is a few weeks shy of her 20th birthday, had the opportunity to shadow a nurse at a local hospital.

A pre-med student, Thomas assisted the medical staff in preparing syringes. She also cared for patients; some of her duties included cleaning wounds.

In the prenatal care section of the facility, Thomas got some hands-on experience. “I got to examine pregnant ladies and kind of learn where the baby’s head is and if it is breached,” she explained.

Now in Alabama, the Waterdown native was slated to begin spring training this week. With two new members on the Samford women’s soccer team, including one who plays the holding midfield position, Thomas knows she’ll have to push herself on the pitch.

“I like to push my limits and spring is a good opportunity to do that,” she said.

Looking ahead at the upcoming season, Thomas said she would like to take on more of a leadership role on the squad, perhaps even filling the position of captain.