COVINGTON, Ga. — Last week, the Eastside Lady Eagles punched their ticket to the 2022 Class 5A playoffs. A senior leader on both ends of the field has been Katie Oakley. 

Oakley serves as the team’s starting goalkeeper and has played on the offensive side of the formation, too. According to Oakley, being able to play both positions has helped the overall team this season. 

“Offensively, I can help make plays and even score,” Oakley said. “[Playing in the goal], I can help protect from goals being scored.” 

Even though her Eastside soccer career is on its home stretch, Oakley has already determined her post-graduation soccer plans. 

On Nov. 11, Oakley signed her national letter of intent to continue her soccer career at Georgia Southern beginning next school year. When deciding which position she was committing to on the soccer field, Oakley said it was tough. However, when she settled on being a goalkeeper, she expressed how content she was with the final decision.

“Starting at 12-13 years old is pretty late for a goalkeeper,” Oakley said. “So against my competitors at other clubs I needed to catch up since they were about two years ahead of me. With a lot of training and building strength mainly in my legs, I was able to catch up. My only weakness was my height when starting out. So, I trained to make sure my height wasn’t my downfall. I have decided to play as a goalkeeper for college and would not change my decision.” 

As a captain this season, Oakley leads her squad with 15 goals scored and has recorded three assists thus far. 

Oakley is 100% committed to soccer, too. Between her participation in school soccer as well as club soccer, Oakley said it was difficult to fit any other extracurricular activities into her already packed schedule. 

Additionally, Oakley is a student at the Newton College and Career Academy (NCCA). There, she’s enrolled in her favorite class, which is Computer Science because learning coding and such interests her. 

Even so, Oakley will be off to Statesboro in just a few short months to continue pursuing her soccer career to wherever the next level leads. 

She plans to major in Mechanical Engineering while also planning to earn a minor in business. 

All of her plans are to help assist her immediate and distant goals in life, she said. 

“My long-term goal would be to play soccer for as long as I can,  with a club that will sign me,” Oakley said. “After soccer, I plan on using my degree to get into the engineering field and get a job doing what I love.”