“Play smart and play confident. Do not be nervous that you are going to mess up because everyone messes up,” said Daniella Celotto, senior captain of Woodland’s girl soccer team.
Celotto was given this title due to her great leadership skills and hard work on and off the field. She is known among her teammates to be vocal and uplifting, helping out her fellow players when the game gets tough.
Aside from her leadership skills, she is a great role model for her fellow teammates as a talented player.
Celotto has been playing soccer her whole life, beginning at age seven. Like most young players, she started in recreational leagues and eventually moved on up to club when she reached age eleven. When she entered her freshman year at Woodland, she immediately made an impression on the team. Starting her position sophomore year, she continued to exceed and was named junior captain of the 2022 team.
“I plan to lead the team by cheering everyone on and making sure they feel comfortable with us and are not afraid to make mistakes,” Celotto said.
Celotto received the All NVL title last season, where she showed every team faced her style of soccer.
Celotto’s biggest concern for this season is filling in the spots of the strong players who graduated last year. With all high school sports, people come and go and spots constantly need to be filled. Because of this, Celotto is committed to making sure the underclassmen feel confident on the team so they have the strength to fill those spots.
“Filling in those positions we lost last year is going to be the biggest and hardest obstacle to overcome; however, I am confident that the underclassmen will step up and do a great job,” said Celotto.
Celotto puts a lot of trust and love into her team. Her favorite part of the season being the team bonding.
“We are a very close group, spending a lot of time together for about three months straight. Pre and post game food, pasta parties, the annual beach trip and sleepover, and getting ready together before games is by far the best part.”
Celotto cannot put enough emphasis on how much she wants everyone to feel welcome and comfortable.
Her main goal this season is to take the team as far as they can go together, past Naugatuck Valley League Championships and into states. She wants to go further than the team has in the past. She has high expectations for the team this year and is confident in her leadership skills to get there.
