As fifth-year Huskie Women’s soccer defender, Amou Madol transitions from a career as a decorated student-athlete to a career in pharmacy, she leaves behind a great example.  

While I am still early in my career as a student-athlete, being a Huskie soccer player has given me the opportunity to become part of a community of incredible people. Being surrounded by so many smart, kind, and high-achieving women every day has not only been humbling but also incredibly inspirational.

I could go on for ages about how much each individual has taught me something—and they all have—but one player that particularly deserves a spotlight on her achievements, in my opinion, is Amou Madol, a fifth-year fullback who will graduate from the USask College of Pharmacy next June. 

Amou and I have always gotten along, but I have been lucky enough to really get to know her this season. After rooming with her on every away trip of our regular season, I have come to appreciate her as a good friend and a role model. Here are three things I have learned from Amou this past season that I think serve as valuable lessons not only for athletes but for all students. 

Focus on one thing at a time instead of splitting your attention.

Amou’s athletic career with the University of Regina began in the Fall of 2018 with the Women’s Soccer team, where she immediately made an impact in the back line as a first-year. Throughout the two years she spent competing with the Cougars, Amou tallied an impressive 2,447 minutes. 

After the Fall soccer season each year, Amou would switch her focus to track and field, where she competed in high jump. In her first year competing, she earned a Canada West Bronze medal after jumping 1.70 m at the Conference Championships. earning herself a spot at the USport National Championships in both years she competed at the UofR.

In addition to her athletic achievements, Amou was named a USport Academic All-Canadian, a distinction awarded to student-athletes who completed a minimum of 18 credits and achieved an 80% overall average. She earned this distinction in all three years she spent as an athlete at the U of R, although she only spent two years competing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being a student-athlete can be tough. The pressure is high in university athletics and academics, both of which often require one’s complete dedication and countless hours of practice to be successful. Despite this, Amou managed to balance two sports while completing her pharmacy prerequisites by doing her best to divide her attention efficiently between school, soccer and high jump. 

During the soccer season in the Fall, Amou strictly practiced soccer. During the track and field season, she focussed strictly on jumping, putting soccer on hold. 

“After the season, I would just drop one thing completely and go to the other thing,” Amou commented. “I appreciated being able to step away from one thing and dive into the next because it helped me become better at each thing. There’s only so many hours in the day, and if I had done both things at the same time, I might’ve only been mediocre.”

While competing throughout the Winter and Fall terms, she only took three classes a semester, setting aside time for another class in both the Spring and Summer terms.

“It took me three years to finish my prerequisites. Usually, if you do five classes a semester, you can do it in two years,” Said Amou. “But I didn’t want to compromise my academics by grinding it all out in two years. I knew that if I did it the way that made the most sense for me, I would be more successful in getting accepted [into pharmacy] and that was ultimately the goal.”

Seize your opportunities.

When Amou entered the College of Pharmacy at USask in 2021, she thought that her athletic career was over. However, after a chance encounter with Huskie Women’s Soccer assistant coach Abu Okonofua one early morning at the PAC during the Winter semester, Amou was presented with the opportunity to continue her soccer career with the Huskies. 

“I felt like I could do more with soccer and build my story a little bit more than I did in track,” Amou said. 

She got off to a good start to her career as a Huskie soccer player in 2022, totalling a solid 767 minutes as a centreback. During her second year as a Huskie, however, Amou experienced a lull, not playing as many minutes as she would have liked.

“Last season, 2023, started off as not what I wanted. I think only halfway through the season last year is when I started to get more impactful time on the field,” remarked Amou.

After a conversation with head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton, Amou decided to give playing fullback (outside defense) a try, despite normally playing central defense. It was a completely new position, but she was willing to try it out if it would open up new opportunities for her — and that was exactly what it did.

Opportunities can sometimes be rare in team sports. When things are going well on the field, it can be hard to find your way off the bench and onto the field. You have to be ready at a moment’s notice to jump in and show what you can do when things are going wrong.

At halftime of what would eventually be a 3-2 loss to the UBCO Heat around the midpoint of the season, Amou was subbed on as a fullback as the coaching staff looked to make some changes in a tough game. She took this opportunity in stride, and after that, Amou consistently started and often played 90 minutes for the rest of the season, eventually playing a crucial role in the team’s record tying 10-3-1 season and eventual third-place finish in the conference.

Keep grinding.

“After the Winnipeg games, which I didn’t play in, that was the shift. It wasn’t what I wanted, so I knew I had to make a change. I had those conversations, did some self-reflection, and from then on, I put my head down and started grinding,” Amou said. “In training, my perspective was that this was the Olympic final. I need to train like there’s a medal on the line, and that’s how you get noticed and get better.”

“I got the chance to get in because I was showing consistency and being impactful in games, but I kept grinding because I was never really comfortable.”

Amou has achieved so much academically and athletically thanks to this mindset, and this has been recognized not only by her teammates, who voted her Huskie Women’s Soccer’s most improved player for the 2023 season, but also by outside observers. 

In 2023 she was selected as one of three panelists at the inaugural Huskie Women of Influence Breakfast, an event that is intended to raise scholarship funds for female Huskie athletes and highlight their achievements.

She was also selected as one of eight nationwide recipients of the Athletes on Track bursary, a program designed to offer financial support and career mentorship to Black student-athletes who excel in the classroom, community, and in their sport. 

Amou is excited to wrap up her schooling in the College of Pharmacy and return to Regina, where she will be reunited with her family and begin her professional career. She dreams of one day opening her own interdisciplinary practice, where members of the community, particularly those of lower incomes, can affordably and easily access a multitude of healthcare services. 

While this is a big dream, she knows it is one she can achieve. After all, she is no stranger to putting her head down and working hard to get what she wants. If there is any wisdom that she can impart, it is this:

“Stick to the process and just keep working, you never know what could come of it.”

Want to get to know Amou better? Listen to her podcast Dawg Dinner, hosted with teammate Caitlyn Stove. Available on Spotify.