By Catherine Galanti
Sports Reporter
For Leena Powell, sports and family have been enduring anchor points throughout her life. Watching a recent game against Ohio State at UCLA’s Wallis Annenberg soccer stadium, the deep connection between the family is clear. “I actually hear my mom’s voice on the field,” said Powell while laughing after the game.
Indeed, within moments of Powell scoring the winning (and only) goal against Ohio State, her father Jameel was out of his seat and running down four rows of bleachers, cheering loudly for his daughter. He sheepishly apologized while on the way back to his own seat, but when it comes to passion and family pride, there’s nothing to apologize for.
Powell grew up in Culver City and attended Culver City High School where she ran track her freshman year and was also a cheerleader. Now she has quickly made a name for herself as a forward on UCLA’s women’s soccer team. Going to school so close to home, and so close to her family, has contributed to her success.
“I am so blessed. God genuinely blessed me to be here, and being able to see my family and my cousins and family friends be able to come out to my home games just means the world to me,” said Powell. “They’ve stood by my entire career, and they’ve never dropped off. So that just means even more.”
That sentiment was echoed by Powell’s mother Lauri. “She can always come to us, whenever things get rough or she’s trying to navigate, we’re always there to just give her our advice based on what we went through,” Lauri said.
To say Powell grew up surrounded by sports is a understatement, what star college player and national team member hasn’t? But Powell’s athletic history goes deeper than most. Her mother was a two-time-national champion basketball player for Cal Poly, her father played football for Serra High School in Gardena, Cal and the Dallas Cowboys, and both her brother Evan, who is a star athlete at Culver City High School, and younger sister Emma are successful athletes in their own right. So, Powell gets her athletic talent honestly, but it’s not just genetics that have pushed her to these heights.
“I probably have the most competitive family ever, and I absolutely love it,” said Powell. “Everything was a competition, but a friendly, fun competition, and I generally think it just made us all better. Our parents were also professional athletes; they just knew how to drive us, and nothing was forced, which I think was the biggest thing.”
Leena appreciates the insight offered by her parents’ respective careers—and is more relaxed about performing in front of them than they are.
“For us, it’s way harder watching your kid play than [playing myself]. It’s way harder watching your kid play because you can’t control anything. You’ve just got to sit back and hope everything goes correctly,” said Jameel. “Then when it goes well, you’re right there, just really excited that you see them scoring. But then you see them get kicked in the knee or something, and you see them in pain, you’re worried. So, playing was way easier for me.”
That strong support system is incredibly valuable not only through daily life, but especially amongst the rigors of pursuing a career in professional sports. For Powell, who’s been a member of the United States U-17, U-18 and U-20 Women’s National Soccer Teams and has represented the country on the international stage multiple times, that pressure and grind have been a motivation.
“I think that I’ve missed out on a lot of things. I was in online school almost my whole high school experience,” she said. “I trained professionally, and I lost a lot of friends, but knowing that my path is different from others was different and just sticking to that and believing in myself—was such a huge thing.”
UCLA is primed for success this season, and Powell has the opportunity to be right at the center of the action. In that September 18th game against No.5 Ohio State, UCLA held Ohio State to their lowest shot total of the season so far. The Bruins, who entered the game ranked No. 21 in the country, were buoyed by a dominant outing by Powell. Powell logged a season-high 83 minutes, took five of UCLA’s seven total shots on goal, and has already surpassed the scoring marks she set last season. Her achievements are being recognized beyond campus as well. She was named a Big Ten Player to Watch and was ranked No. 38 on a recent Top Drawer Soccer list, the highest of any Bruin player.
She was also named one of the Bruins’ captains this season—a notable accomplishment for a sophomore. UCLA has a particularly young roster this season. Multiple freshmen have been regular starters, goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor is a sophomore, and midfielder Thea Perry is coming off a stint with the US U-16 squad and left high school early in order to join the team in Westwood. But age doesn’t necessarily equate wisdom, and young players have stepped up in big ways so far. Powell herself is already seeing how her leadership has evolved from her freshman year. She’s taking what she learned last year and trying to pass it on to who she calls “her freshmen” while still staying true to herself and her goals.
“Honestly, I think I have so much more to do, and I try to not let myself stay stagnant in what I’m doing. But I’m just grateful to be here. I remember being six years old and watching UCLA soccer games here, and so I think this is probably the biggest accomplishment of being able to play on the field that I was watching for so long, and I hope that my accomplishments will just keep growing.”
Currently UCLA is ranked No. 12 in the nation with a record of 7-3-1. Their next home games are Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. and Friday Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.
The theme of gratefulness, pride and community was in line with comments her parents had made. “I’m grateful that she’s down the street. I’m grateful that she has the opportunity to be coached by a really good coach. I’m grateful that, you know, she scored today,” said Lauri. “There’s so many things. I think grateful is the best adjective…there’s a whole lot in between, but I think that’s the most important one for me.
“Grateful and stressed,” Jameel added with a laugh. “Grateful and stressed.”