Delta’s Gribaudo heads to New Mexico to play soccer
People keep telling Brooklyn Gribaudo she’s too short to be a college soccer defender.
Gribaudo feels like she plays taller than her 5-foot, 1-inch frame, and later this month is headed to Las Vegas, N.M. to play for New Mexico Highlands University, an NCAA Division II school.
“What me and my coach at Delta say is to play tall,” Gribaudo said. “It honestly doesn’t matter what size I am if I can go up against girls taller than I am, and I play my heart out.”
Gribaudo has played soccer since she was four, starting with Lodi rec league soccer, followed by competitive club soccer, and four years at St. Mary’s.
For the past two years, she has been a center defender for San Joaquin Delta College, helping the team go 23-1-2, with the lone loss coming in a 1-0 decision against Santiago Canyon College in the California Community College Athletic Association semifinals.
Gribaudo, with 24 starts, had two assists, and was a key player for a defense that allowed 7 goals the entire season while scoring 97.
“Let’s just shout out my Delta team. Those girls are my best friends,” Gribaudo said. “It’s Going to be tough leaving them. I love that group of girls. When it comes to Highlands, I just hope I can continue to thrive like I did at Delta.”
She’ll join a Cowgirls side that was winless in 2019, going 0-13 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Gribaudo had hoped to land somewhere in state, but as the season drew to a close, she had no offers. That’s when NM Highlands stepped in.
“It was kind of the end of the season when it happened, and I got kind of told I wasn’t really going to go anywhere in California, they weren’t really looking for my position,” she said. “I sent my video to out of state, and that’s when I got an email from the coach.”
The criminal justice major is supposed to leave for New Mexico at the end of July, but is not sure yet if she will have a soccer season when she gets there. Highlands has said it would make a decision on fall sports this month.