They could have spent the rest of summer at home in North Carolina. They could have stayed through last weekend and played for the North Carolina Courage in the USL W League playoffs.
Instead, the Brown sisters, their parents and their two dogs packed into their Mazda SUV last week and made the 20-ish hour drive to Minnesota so Izzy and Amelia, two key players for the Gophers soccer team, could start working out and practicing with their teammates.
Izzy, a forward, is a graduate student working on her master's in sports management and a senior in terms of eligibility. Amelia, three years younger, is a sophomore midfielder who wants to build a career in soccer.
How did two talented kids from North Carolina, at least one of whom doesn't like cold weather, wind up in Minnesota? Izzy, who transferred from North Carolina after her sophomore season, said they have extended family in the area, and "Minnesota has been like a second home — I visited a lot when I was growing up. So this is the place that felt the most comfortable to me."
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