EDINBURG – The dream of playing college soccer for senior Frida Farstad-Eriksson, of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley women's soccer team, all started on a trip to Minnesota with her mom.
 
"My went to college and when I was 11 she had a speech at that college," Farstad-Eriksson said. "I followed her to Minnesota where that was and I got to see that they had a soccer team at a university level. At that point, I decided that I wanted to play college soccer and go to school at the same time because it seemed like a great combination. We don't have that back home in Sweden."
 
Farstad-Erikkson, who is a from Stockholm, Sweden, started playing soccer when she was six years old. Her interest in soccer started when she noticed that her guy friends were playing so she too wanted to play.
 
Soccer has always been her primary sport. She tried horseback riding for a little while but she realized that she needed to focus just on soccer. Farstad-Eriksson loves the game and considers it the best sport in the world.
 
With her focus on soccer, Farstad-Eriksson started to see the rewards of her hard work. She led one of her teams to the Under-16 Swedish Championship in 2010 and the 2012 Gothia Cup Under-19 Championship.
 
Also in 2010 and 2011, she led her team to back-to-back Stockholm Junior Chamipionships while also helping her team to a silver medal at the Swedish Futsal Under-17 Tournament and bronze medals in the Svenska Spel Under-17 Conference and the Under-19 Norway Cup.
 
Farstad-Eriksson had the skill and the desire to play at the collegiate level but the only thing she needed was a place to play. She signed up with a recruiting agency and they helped her create a video to help get her name out to coaches.
 
Farstad-Eriksson had offers from other schools but in the end, there was something about UTRGV that she just couldn't say no to.
 
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"When I got recruited, I got recruited by a couple of coaches," Farstad-Eriksson said. "This school was the one that felt most like home for me. When I was emailing with coach and he told me about the school everything seemed so exciting. The thought of starting a program seemed very exciting. That was one of the reasons why I came here."
 
Farstad-Eriksson came to the program in 2014 but she didn't come alone as she and her teammates were all new to the program. For Farstad-Eriksson, that season was special because of the young group they had.
 
She says there wasn't a lot of veteran leadership because they were all in the same boat but they all learned together and that season was a lot of fun.
 
Since that first season, there are only six left from that original group. Along with Farstad-Eriksson, the other five include Andreya Barrera, Erica Gonzalez, Marcela Ramirez, Hanna Spets and Allyson Smith.
 
Farstad-Eriksson feels honored to be a part of that group because only they know what they went through to get to this point.
 
"It's very special," Farstad-Eriksson said. "I don't think the other people that are here understand what we went through. I am not saying that it was that horrible but it was a lot of stuff that we went through that they haven't. The stuff that we have now we didn't have the first year. We didn't have a locker room and I remember that one of our first practices we were out here early in the morning and it was a year later we got the lights for the first time. We have done all the mistakes beforehand so that the people coming in know what they shouldn't do. We went through all of that."
 
It sure was a learning experience for Farstad-Eriksson and her teammates. They certainly had to learn the hard way. She recalls a moment back on the first day of practice where Smith and her showed up to the first meeting 30 minutes late because they read the itinerary wrong and from that point forward they learned never to be late to anything team related.
 
She has been able to learn so much from her coaching staff over the last four years. UTRGV head coach Glad Bugariu and assistant coaches Lindsay Vera and Silviu Telespan have made an impact on her life and not just her soccer career.
 
Farstad-Eriksson got emotional talking about her coaches and she knows she wouldn't be where she is at today without them.
 
"I want to thank them for giving me this opportunity," Farstad-Eriksson said. "Obviously, it has been a dream to come here and play since I was 11 and it has been tough. As I have grown as a person, the coaches have grown with us. It's not only tough for us to start a program but it is tough for them as well. It's been a really special experience that we have shared to start this."
 
Farstad-Eriksson has many memories throughout her time here. From being late to that first ever meeting or having their first practice under the new lights to even learning not to order the calamari, which she laughs about because it's an inside joke with her teammates.
 
On the field though, there was one game that sticks out in her mind and of course she even came away with a name for that special game which she calls the Mud Bowl. It was the first-ever WAC match for the program and New Mexico State was coming to town.
 
"Obviously, everything was new here and everything we did was a new achievement for us," Farstad-Eriksson said. "One of the best memories I had was that first WAC game where we played New Mexico State and I remember they didn't want to play us on our field because they thought it wasn't ready. So, we had to go to another place and it was pouring. We thought it was going to get cancelled but it didn't and we ended up playing the game. I remember there was so many people helping to get the game going. We basically called it the Mud Bowl. It was a great game. First of all, we won which was great but also everything around it made it amazing."
 
She played in 21 matches that first season as she recorded four assists. She then played in 19 matches as a sophomore and then 19 more as a junior where she scored three goals while recording two assists.
 
In her senior season, Farstad-Eriksson has played in 18 matches so far while scoring her first goal of the season in her last home match of her career. She currently ranks first in penalty kick attempts (2) and tied for first in matches played (77). She also ranks second in minutes played (6,111) and tied for fourth in assists (7).
 
Farstad-Eriksson is majoring in sociology with a minor psychology. She is hoping to become a sports psychologist one day and she thinks that right now her plan is to go back home where she knows of a good school that will help her reach her goal.
 
She is also looking forward to doing some traveling even though she has been here for four years.
 
Looking back throughout her time at UTRGV she knows of all the ups and downs she has gone through and she wouldn't change anything because it has shaped her into who she is today.
 
"There are somethings but probably not," Farstad-Eriksson said. "Whatever has happened has made me into the person I am today. It has made this to what it is."
 
What it has been is a great four years with Farstad-Eriksson and the original six. She has been a major cog in what the program has become today and she will forever be linked to the UTRGV women's soccer program.