A Great Leader On and Off the Pitch
By Kevin Ivany
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
A quote issued by the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, has been showcased in the day-to-day efforts by University of Miami soccer defender Dejah Cason.
“Obviously, I think her effort is fantastic, day-in and day-out, regardless of how she is feeling or what is hurting. She is a true competitor in that way,” Miami head coach Sarah Barnes said. “She is also the person on the team who is making sure everyone is in check.
“I think the other thing that makes her a great leader on this team is that when we talk about things tactically or things that we need leaders to do, both in training and games, she does a really good job of taking that information and understanding that it needs to be done, and then applies it to those scenarios,” Barnes continued. “She is holding people accountable for using the correct foot, for running through the line and in any other situation that becomes an important part in helping the team improve.” A senior and a three-year captain, Cason has taken it upon herself to maintain her leadership role and takes pride in helping her teammates both on and off the pitch.
“Growing up, I didn’t realize the leadership qualities I had, but being in college it stands out more, especially now that I have been a captain the past three years,” Cason said. “I also hold pride in maintaining that role. It kind of looks bad if you are a captain your sophomore year, but not a captain your junior year. So it is good to keep the streak going [laughs].
“But I am glad to be a part of the leadership group of this team and one of the captains,” Cason continued. “I think my role as one of the captains is basically to make sure the team stays disciplined and I am usually the person, before the game, who is making sure everyone is energized and ready to go. I don’t see myself as the nice captain, because I can be pretty demanding at times. But, I think I am balanced and I have a pretty good relationship with everyone on the team.”
Playing alongside Cason all four seasons, senior forward Kristina Fisher, a fellow captain, reiterated Cason’s role as a leader and what she brings to the team.
“Dejah is a dream teammate, she brings the fun and seriousness all at the same time. She keeps things light with dancing and jokes, but also makes sure everyone is locked into what we’re doing,” Fisher said. “You can always count on her to be cool under pressure and ready for anything, which I think is crucial to have.”Now in his second season coaching Cason, assistant coach Jeremy Williams is also delighted with Cason’s continued vocal leadership and describes her as being an additional coach on the field.
“I think she has done a really nice job of leading by example and has definitely been the vocal leader for the team,” Williams said. “When change needs to happen, she is able to affect that through her voice. If she needs to get the team in line or if things aren’t quite looking the way they need to, she doesn’t seem to be afraid to speak up. And again, I think she does it in a good way and does a great job with it.”Working with her and the other defenders, I think she has really become one who has a much better understanding of what to do, from a defensive standpoint,” Williams continued. “This past spring she was asking a lot more questions, and now, with that knowledge, she notices when things aren’t quite right in training or on the field and is actually able to communicate with her teammates to attempt to fix it. She doesn’t need the coaching staff to step in every time, which is what you look for in a team leader.”
Despite playing defender on her travel team, Cason was recruited as a forward to Miami. However, following her first season, she began to make the transition to left back. And despite not seeing her name all over the box scores, she explained how she enjoys being a defender more because she does not like watching the other team score.
“The transition to defense was almost like going back to the old stomping grounds. And I actually prefer playing defense because when I first started playing soccer, I never liked when the other team scored on us. So, I was playing defense to prevent that from happening,” Cason “And that is something that continues to play a factor for me today. I don’t care if I am not scoring the goal, necessarily, but I just don’t want to let the other team score.” For Williams, he has continued to see the impacts Cason has made both during the match and after, while watching the film, and how she has played a major factor in breaking down an opposing team’s attack.
“I think she does a lot of, what I would call, the dirty work or the behind the scenes work. And what I mean by that is by being a defender it is about overcoming challenges and getting in the correct positions,” Williams said. “And even though certain plays don’t make the box score, there have been a lot of instances where I re-watch it and go, ‘Oh man, if Dej wasn’t in the correct position that could have been a goal or the opposing team would have had a great chance.'”
Continuing to make improvements to her defensive game to help the Hurricanes in every way that she can, one area of improvement that has stood out to both Cason and Williams is in the Hollywood, Fla., native’s one-on-one defending abilities.
“I think that her one-on-one defending has continued to improve, especially over the past few games. Not that it was ever a weakness, I just think that aspect of her game has gotten to the point where we have no worries when teams are sending very good attacking players her way,” Williams said. “So, it has been good to see that hard work and dedication to want to get better, and ultimately see that translate to the field.”
Now, with the curtain closing on her collegiate career, Cason understands her college career is ending and is excited for what is to come.
“I have actually been thinking a lot about continuing my playing career and following the season, pursuing the opportunity to play professionally and see where that takes me,” Cason said. “And then, after that, I plan on going to nursing school and becoming a nurse. But again, I can be a nurse at 30, but I can’t always be a soccer player and I don’t want to have any regrets.”
But for now, Cason and her teammates are only focused on the final match of the season, when the Hurricanes take on third-ranked and 2019 ACC regualr season champions, North Carolina.
In the final match, Cason’s leadership will once again play a major factor and is something Barnes hopes the underclassmen continue to learn from.
“I think her leadership is the greatest factor she brings and I hope the younger players are learning from her and understanding the importance of having a voice and taking responsibility upon yourself to make the other people around you great,” Barnes said.
For Cason, as a senior, she also hopes to leave a mark on her teammates when she eventually passes on the torch.”I hope I leave a demanding impact on them, because I hope they know, even though I am hard on them and demanding of them, it is because I know they can do it. I know their potential. It is just about trying to get them to reach that potential and do it every single time, day in and day out, and create that standard,” Cason said. “And also, for the younger players to know, I am one who likes to have fun. I joke around a lot and I am always laughing (laughs). And I hope they know that you can be serious and have fun because, I think, if you have a good balance of those two, it will take you very far. Because you don’t take things to personal and you know when to be serious.”
Fisher added, “These past four years have been nothing short of awesome. I’ve really enjoyed playing soccer with Dejah, aka Hollywood, but most importantly getting to know her off the field as well. ‘Budday squad’ forever.”
