Walker Provides Spark for Badgers
October 02, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Lindsey Walker's role is unique. It is one not exactly like the rest of the senior class. It is one of support, optimism and encouragement.
But you better believe when duty calls, Walker comes to play. One of the fastest members of the women's soccer team, it is in the job description to come in and raise the energy level.
Walker, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native, has played in over 60 games during her four-year career as a Badger. Nicknamed 'Twiggy,' the senior forward has four career assists, including one earlier this year against Illinois.
Walker is one of three members of the Badger squad to hail from the state of Michigan. Growing up, she began playing soccer in her backyard with her father, Gordon, and older sister, Casey.
'I basically started because I wanted to be like my sister,' Walker remembered. 'My parents just enrolled me in the boys recreation league back home and I played until I was in middle school. Then I went to play club soccer.'
Walker moved on to the Michigan Hawks, an elite club team, which she played on for seven years before and through high school. A member of the varsity team at Lahser High School, Walker was a four-time all-state selection and also played five years in the Olympic Development Program.
Walker lists one of her fondest soccer memories as having the opportunity to play on the same team as her sister in high school.
'It was the first time I had really gotten a chance to play with her,' Walker said. 'We would fight, but we got along great too. It was just a lot of fun.'
A successful prep career led her on an official visit to the University of Wisconsin, one in which she took with future teammate Stefani Sczcechowski, also a Michigan native.
'We were a little nervous but we had a really good visit,' Walker recalled. 'I think the thing that sold both of us was going to the football game. We just loved that atmosphere and knew we needed to come to Wisconsin.'
Walker and Sczcechowski would come together in Madison as members of the 2003 recruiting class. Marissa Sarkesian also played with Walker and Sczcechowski back in Michigan and joined the Badgers this season.
'Stefani, Marissa and I have known each other since middle school when we were playing club,' Walker said. 'We have all known each other for a really long time. It is cool that Sark is here and we get to play with her again.'
Walker and the Badgers are already well into the 2006 season, the last for the senior class of Natalie Horner, Kara Kabellis, Allison Preiss, Szczechowski and Walker.
'Something that you see with seniors is that during their previous years they grow to feel more confident,' Dean Duerst, Wisconsin head coach, said. 'They know what the coaches are looking for. They know what their role becomes. They are confident players who know what they're doing.'
Walker describes her role as half supportative and half competitive. Though most would agree Walker is a quiet person, that isn't the case when she is yelling from the sidelines to get her team fired up.
'I want to be a spark when I come in and get the team going,' Walker said of her role. 'We don't want the competitive level to go down. It is our job to keep it where it is or even take it up a notch.'
'Lindsey has a lot of energy when she steps out of that field,' Duerst said. 'We need that kind of energy up front. She definitely bought into what her role was and how she can help the team.'
Walker's experiences at Wisconsin include a Big Ten tournament championship and a trip abroad to Germany during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Her fondest memories, however, will be the ones with her teammates in mind.
'What I am going to remember most is how much fun I had with all the girls, ' Walker pointed out. 'We come to practice everyday and it's hard. We work hard. But hanging out with everyone and all of the friendships is what I will take with me.'
Walker will take a fifth year and graduate in 2007 with a degree in Scandinavian Studies. She hopes to attend nursing school following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin.
