Meet Academica SC: Taylor Phillips

Taylor Phillips is entering her senior season at San Jose State University, and is making an impact for Academica.

Taylor Phillips is entering her senior year at San Jose State University with a lot of uncertainty ahead of her, but she won’t let that get in her way. With Academica, she’s put together some strong performances. Although fans at the Academica Soccer Field haven’t been able to see her goal-scoring touch just yet, she’s certainly helped others find the back of the net. She also added her first two goals of the season for Academica on the road against Olympic Club earlier this week. It was a long time coming, as she had been creating quite a few chances over the season but she was finally rewarded for her efforts. 

At the Division I level though, she’s been making a major impact since bursting onto the scene in her freshman year. In her first season with the Spartans, she led the team in both goals and assists, with four of each in 19 games, only starting 13 times. She embraced more of a playmaker role in her sophomore year, scoring two goals herself and assisting on four. Her junior year truly allowed her to show off her goal-scoring ability though, as she scored five goals and had her first collegiate multi-goal game against Southern Utah University. 

Pre-Collegiate Standout

In high school, Phillips was already making a name for herself in the soccer world. She spent some time with the United States Olympic Development program, going through regional camps and the like. After that, she won a competition to earn an opportunity to travel to Germany and train with Bayern Munich. 

When asked about the competition, Phillips said, “It was kind of like a trial almost and they were gonna pick one person to get a fully paid expensive trip to Germany to play with Bayern Munich’s first and second team. So I tried out maybe with like, I don't know there was like 150 girls at UCSB. I remember it was about a week-long, and I didn't think of anything of it like I didn't think I was gonna get picked or anything, and then somehow I ended up getting picked. So I flew to Germany with my mom fully paid for. I was in Germany for over a week training with the Bayern team and that was just, you know, a crazy experience. So I'm so grateful and it was just like once in a lifetime, you know, opportunity. So that was really awesome.”

While in Germany, Phillips was impressed by the love of soccer in the country saying “Everyone was all about soccer every place you went and it was soccer on the TV. And I remember we took an Uber to the facility. And one of the Uber drivers was like, oh, like you play for Bayern. Like, you're from the US, was just starstruck by you know, this little like 16-year-old girl that was getting dropped off at Bayern's campus. So it was really awesome.

Phillips also noted that a player she has always admired was Alex Morgan, “Alex Morgan was my biggest inspiration just because she played center forward. I liked that she wore pink pre-wrap and I just thought that was so cool. And she scored a bunch of goals. You know, back when I was like a kid growing up, she was like the it player. So I think I was just naturally drawn to that.”

Championship Caliber

In her time at San Jose State, Phillips has been a part of one Mountain West Championship-winning team. She isn’t content with just the one though, she’s hoping to go out with a bang in her final collegiate season and win a second ring. During that championship season though, Phillips was a key part of her team’s success, being named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team.

When asked about the championship season, she said “I didn't even know that we were in contention for the Mountain West regular season championship. Our coach didn't tell us, and we were playing Fresno State. It was our last game of the regular season and so like obviously Fresno State is a really close game to me. It touches the heart because it's a rivalry and it's my home. We ended up winning off of a corner kick in the last five minutes of the game and after they brought up this trophy saying that we were Mountain West champs and everyone was so confused. We flew to New Mexico the next day, and we were in third, we were kind of like this underdog. No one thought we were gonna do it. We were playing New Mexico, at New Mexico, they were favored to win. And somehow we just won in PKs. And we won two PK games, which was really awesome. The championship and the semis. Then I scored a goal in the first round to get us that 1-0 win, which was just my favorite moment in all of college. So it was just really awesome. It was really cold and windy. However, Albuquerque is not friendly in the winter. But you know, to win both those titles in my sophomore year was just really awesome.”                                                                                

Back to Her Comfort Zone

Last season, Phillips spent most of her time playing on the wing rather than her typical center-forward role. Now, she’s expected to return to her natural position and as a result, she’ll be much more comfortable this coming season, which could lead to big things for her. When asked about it she said, “I’m really excited, last season they had me play a different position. I was playing outside forward and now I’m finally back to that center forward role and I just feel like it’s been way more comfortable, and I’m really excited to continue that as I feel like it’s my true position and I can play the best by getting the ball, holding and distributing, and moving into the eighteen. So I’m really excited for that and I’m looking towards a good season this upcoming year.”

Despite being less comfortable as an outside forward, Phillips felt it was a good learning experience that ultimately helped her as a player, adding “I think it's always good to be super versatile. And being able to play any position on this field and being able to support the team in any way I could was a really good lesson and I'm really grateful that I was still able to play and still be able to get minutes and goals. So I think it was a good learning experience and a very valuable learning time as well.” 

Finding Academica

Phillips partially attributed her arrival at Academica to her current teammate on the team, Bailey Bracha who plays for Cal Poly. “Bailey texted me and she's like, “Hey,  what are you doing this summer?” I was like, you know, just working. She's like, Well, do you want to play and I'm like, Heck, yeah.”

She played with quite a few of her Academica teammates over the years, as many of the current roster comes from the Clovis/Fresno area which was ultimately the biggest part of the reason she joined the team. “So, that is literally what drove me to come to Turlock when you know, I could have been playing for a team in the bay, or even in Fresno but I was like, I want to stick with this group of girls. You know, these are the girls I just grew up with.”

Often commuting from either Clovis or San Jose, the season has been a little difficult for her, but she doesn’t mind, stating “I just want to get minutes and play like, I love the team so much. The coaches are just awesome and you know, I've grown up with all these girls, and it's just such a good group. So I don't mind, but it has been a little bit difficult. I wish I was five minutes away so I can come to everything. But you know, it's been a really awesome experience already.”

After the interview, I reached out to one of Phillips’ Academica teammates, Logan Nidy who had this to say about her, “Taylor is a determined, hard-working, and amazing teammate to have. I have had the honor of not only playing with her on the same team but also playing against her in college ball. She is technical, smart with the ball, and an amazing passer. When playing on the same team she was my go-to girl when it came to assists. Playing against Taylor is definitely a challenge! You have to be able to defend her before she does anything dangerous on the ball. I’m super happy to have had the opportunity to play with her again this summer at Academica!”

An Uncertain Future

As a senior at San Jose State, there aren’t any guarantees of what’s to come for Phillips but she’s not letting that affect her. She said she’s interested in playing professionally if the opportunity were to present itself, but if not, she’s happy to take the next step forward and use her finance degree to start a career.

Phillips has been a standout player for San Jose State, but her academic performances have been just as impressive. She feels motivated to perform in a historically male-dominated field and she’s done just that, being awarded the Mountain West Scholar-Athlete twice, and being named Academica All-Mountain West on two occasions as well. “It just makes me feel good about myself knowing that like I can get A's on these courses, and I am smart enough. So, yeah, it's really important to me, especially being a girl in finance, like there's no other girls in my classes but me. So it's kind of you know, it's fun to kind of prove them wrong that you know, I can do that too.”

If this is the end of the road for Phillips in competitive soccer though, she’s happy with what she has accomplished to this point.  “I would say how to pretty awesome soccer career like growing up we won Nationals, we won the State Cup. We won state for high school. Like I think I won almost everything I could have, you know, just with all of my friends which was just so awesome. And then in college, it's obviously more competitive. And just to say I have that one Mountain West championship ring and that trophy like that was just awesome. So I think no matter what happens I'm obviously going to strive to have another championship here but if we don't you know only one team is the winner. I think it would be really content with my career and you know, just kind of like the lessons and the opportunities I was given along the way. It's just something that will carry on for years to come.”

With Phillips’ senior year directly ahead of her though, she added “My goal right now is just to be the strongest I can, the fittest I can, just be on track to be just the best version of myself for my last year. Try to score as many goals, get as many assists, and just be a real playmaker on the field. You know because I really only have six months left with college soccer. So I think that's just really important to me right now is just ending soccer how I want to end, as the best version of myself.”

When asked about what was the most important aspect of her soccer career, Phillips stated “I would say the relationships I made with girls along the way. Like I said, those friendships from when I was younger, and in high school are so important to me, and they are still some of my closest friends. And I would say just learning to be a part of a team. You know, learning to be selfless and hardworking. I think those values will be with me forever, you know, and will translate into having a family and being a good coworker at a job or just a good person. I think those are just really good values that helped me grow, you know, overall.”

Off the Field

Outside of soccer, Phillips keeps herself fairly busy with an internship in finance but she has quite a few hobbies off the pitch as well. She enjoys going to the beach or the lake, traveling, attending country concerts, and eating pizza and snow cones. When asked about her pizza preferences, Phillips said she likes thick, doughy pizza but is not a fan of pineapple on pizza. When asked about her biggest motivators overall, she instantly mentioned her parents, saying “I think my parents have always been really good motivators on wanting the best for me and pushing me to my limits.”

Phillips wants to travel quite a bit when she’s able to, “I really want to go to Hawaii because I've never been but I want to go to New York. I want to go to different types of little islands off Cape Cod, I just want to experience tons of stuff because I'm really only on the West Coast for most of soccer it's just traveling to like Wyoming, Idaho, and New Mexico but it's like I never really get to experience the east coast or even like other countries. I would love to go to Italy and all these other European countries so I think those are definitely some places I want to check off when I'm done with soccer and have some free time.

Although Phillips’ career both on and off the field is about to reach a crossroads, if this season does end up being her final season at a competitive level of soccer, she was simple with her response when asked about how she wanted her teammates to remember her. “I think I just want them to remember me as a good teammate, you know that I was a hard worker. I was a good person. I didn't cause drama. I just was there for them, you know, and created better opportunities where I contributed to the team well.” Regardless of whether Phillips goes on to play professional soccer or moves into her career in finance, it’s clear to me that she’s going to be very successful wherever life takes her.