This fall is the conclusion of UW Oshkosh’s soccer senior Rylie Kaufman’s career as an athlete and Titan, leaving a legacy of leadership and love of the sport.
Kaufman said that as long as she can remember, she’s played soccer and that it’s come to her naturally through friends and family.
“I have been playing soccer all of my life; I couldn’t even tell you when I started,” she said. “My older sister also played, so we’ve always been a soccer family… I stuck with soccer because it felt the best and I gained a lot of friends by being there.”
Kaufman’s career leading to collegiate level involved two different clubs and playing in high school. While in high school, she had conflicts with a coach that led to her joining a men’s club in order to continue playing the sport giving her a more competitive experience.
“My senior year, I practiced in the boy’s club and that ended up helping me in the long run as it was a faster paced game,” Kaufman said.
She said that while observing her older sister search for schools, Kaufman had seen what different schools required of athletes, leading Kaufman to choose a lower division.
“When it came to looking at colleges, I had already seen where my brother and sister looked,” she said. “My sister had gone Division I at Northern Illinois University, so I saw the different levels of play. I came to a realization that as much as I love soccer and I want to go to a high level, it would be best for me to go to a Division III school.”
During her junior year of high school, Kaufman began talking to UWO’s head soccer coach, Erin Coppernoll about opportunities to play at UWO and Kaufman later committed at the beginning of her senior year.
While looking into Oshkosh, Kaufman described her connection to UWO as “automatic” due to campus and its proximity to family.
“It was an automatic feeling of this was home, and that’s something I wanted from college,” she said. “I see my grandma every week and my aunt and uncle every other week. I also just have a big group of supporters to come and watch me.”
Kaufman said that one of the attractions of campus is the size and the amenities it offered for her.
“I love the campus not being super big,” she said. “The fact that I can walk while living on or off of campus … It’s a beautiful campus and the benefits and amenities are really helpful. It was the right fit and it’s exactly what I wanted.”
This season, UWO has a 5-9-3 record and the Titans are currently in fourth place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Oshkosh has won their last three matches and the Titans are one win away from securing a spot in the WIAC Tournament next weekend.
After graduation, Kaufman said that she plans on teaching in Wisconsin. She said that she also hopes that her teaching career includes coaching in order to share her love of the sport.
“The hope is to find a teaching job in Wisconsin either in the middle or high school level,” she said. “I don’t have a preference as to where. I’m going to be a new teacher out of college and I don’t have the ground to stand on to say no to a job. Where I find a job that suits me is where I’ll go. I also hope to coach soccer and extend my love of it.”
UWO will take on UW-Platteville on the road Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.
