Feature Photo by Brenau University

On April 13, 2023, Sarah Clark walked off the field for the final time wearing the Lady Raiders jersey in Habersham Central’s playoff match against Lassiter. On August 26, just 4-plus months later, she made her official debut for Brenau University. Within 3 minutes, she put her first shot on goal, and in the 79th minute, she put in her first collegiate goal.

Point blank, not only was the Hab Central standout starting, she was (and is) making an immediate impact. That game, a 4-0 win over Point University, Clark put 5 shots on target and tallied her first goal. Fast forward through the first 5 matches, Clark is the leading scorer for the Golden Tigers with 6 goals and 2 assists, totaling 14 points with 28 shots (19 SOG). That includes a game-winner and a hat trick in her second match against Faulkner University.

“I think the main thing that has led me to success is my communication skills,” says Clark. “I think that learning from high school the best way to approach situations and communicate with teammates has been the biggest thing that has overlapped into my college play. I also believe that the support from the community in high school has pushed me all this way through college knowing that so many people have always and will always believed in me.”

Despite the massive success she’s having that has guided her team to a 4-1 start to the season, it would frankly be a discredit to her hard work to say it’s been easy for her. Clark, who was named on September 4 as the Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Week, has faced adversity and made the right adjustments.

“The biggest difference has been adjusting to new teammates and style of play,” states Clark. “I think college soccer takes a lot more communication and honestly the main difference is the major preseason workouts as a college athlete.”

Clark not only wants the success in the box score and the win column, but off the field as well. She knows that’s the key to having more success on the field.

“My main goal is to build relationships with my teammates on and off the field so that we can all get the best outcomes out of each game,” states Clark. “I also would love to put the ball in the back of the net, but that doesn’t happen if you don’t have all your teammates behind you in the process.”

Clark is majoring in Pre-Nursing and hopes to one day become a Nurse Practitioner at a small town family doctor’s office. But before that, it’s her time to tear it up on the pitch. She’d be the first to tell others who think that they have to wait awhile before being an impact player to reject that notion.

“I think everyone deserves a chance to speak up no matter what grade you’re in or how old you are,” states Clark. “If you’re a captain, it is important to allow everyone to have a say because at the end of the day it is a team game. If you do not give the younger, newer athletes a chance to say what they want the team to hear then feelings build up and you cannot play as a team, as sisters.”

Clark tallied 63 goals and 27 assists from 2021-2023 for Habersham Central, becoming a 2-time 1st-Team All-Region selection and putting up 27 goals in 2022 as a junior for the Lady Raiders’ single-season record. She had 12 goals and 5 assists as a sophomore, 27 goals and 8 assists as a junior, and 24 goals and 14 assists as a senior.