Westmont Women’s Soccer Head Coach Kristi Kiely has announced that Leeza Henderson of Phoenix, Arizona will be making her way from Arizona State to the campus of Westmont this fall.
Henderson saw limited action at ASU due to a torn ACL, which occurred five games into her freshman year. Still recovering from her injury, the red-shirt sophomore played in just three games last season.
Kiely is hoping that the now healthy 5-7 forward will add to the Warriors’ fire power this season.
“Coach Kevin Boyd at Arizona State noted that she is very good in the air with a rocket of a shot,” said Kiely. “He said he never wanted to be in goal in training when she was shooting. As long as we can place her around the goal area and get her the ball, I think she will have a lot of success.
“ASU is a good program on the way up,” noted Kiely, “She was getting playing time both as a freshman and a sophomore. To be playing in that kind of program is very positive and gets us very excited.”
The recruitment of Henderson began when she decided to contact Kiely about a possible transfer.
“Leeza was looking for a smaller school and preferably a Christian environment in which she could still play competitively,” said Kiely. “It was a word-of-mouth recruitment that speaks to the reputation of the college and hopefully our program.”
Henderson visited campus in May, meeting with both Coach Kiely and senior Britney Scannel who transferred from UCLA to play for the Warriors last season. While Kiely and Scannell were both in Uganda with the women’s soccer team, Henderson made her decision to attend Westmont and signed with Athletic Director Dave Odell.
“We are excited to have Leeza join the program,” said Kiely, “not only because of her athletic skills, but because of her character. Coach Boyd spoke about her character and the character of her family. She works very hard, she’s very positive and very encouraging, she’s outgoing, determined and disciplined. She has a lot of positive quality traits that are important to me and to our women’s program. Even though she comes in as a new player, I am hoping that she will come in as a leader.”
Henderson’s career goal is to become a veterinarian. According to the ASU web site, Henderson is the proud owner of “three dogs, one cat, two African Grey parrots, two Cockatiels, one Chinchilla, two snakes, two red eared sliders (turtles), 10 African Leopard Tortoises, one Pac Man frog, two bunny rabbits, and 15 fish tanks filled with different fish (tanks range from 10 gallons-100 gallons).”
