Athlete of the Week: Daniela Nemirovsky

The leaves are changing color, the air is turning brisk and the unmistakable voice of soccer captain and center back Daniela Nemirovsky resounds as she directs and organizes her teammates on the field. As captain of the girls’ varsity soccer team and valued member of the varsity track and field team, diligent leader and athlete Nemirovsky is known widely for her positive power on the field, her dedicated desire to be a better athlete and her ability to lift others up.

Nemirovsky began playing soccer when she was seven on a small local recreational team. Her love for the game grew, and she joined CY Competitive, a club team at her home in California, a year later. She has not stopped competing since. “Ever since I started doing competitive soccer it’s been a part of my identity,” she said. “Through up and down, it’s always been there.”

She joined varsity as a prep, and has been an invaluable member of the team ever since. Assistant soccer coach Alexa Caldwell described Nemirovsky’s athleticism. “On the field as a central back, Daniela does an excellent job reading and anticipating the play, enabling her to consistently be in the right positioning to stop the other team’s offense,” she said.

Senior Hannah Gustafson, who has played alongside Nemirovsky for four years, described her diligence and spirit. “She is one of the most positive and encouraging people I’ve ever met,” she said. “If you ever need someone to cheer you up or get you pumped for a game, it’s Daniela.”

“Daniela is the girl who puts in the work and is ready to get on the line, or step onto the field and check in with how much progress she has made.”

Fellow defender and upper Jen Zecena echoed Gustafson’s sentiment. “She can always be heard yelling words of encouragement,” she said. “Due to her amazing leadership on the field, the team is able to keep its shape and move as a unit.”

Nemirovsky’s co-captain and fellow center defender, senior Grace Pratt, also spoke about Nemirovsky’s positive influence on the team. “She comes to practices and games focused and ready to compete, which helps everyone else get into that same mentality,” she said.

Nemirovsky joined the track team her lower winter, intending to cross train for her spring sport: lacrosse. To her surprise, she fell in love with track, and chose to sprint and hurdle in the spring instead. “I think the track team is one of the best teams on campus, just because it’s fun and it’s supportive,” she said. “It’s hard work but it’s such a great community.”

Nemirovsky’s teammate, upper Dolapo Adedokun, applauded Nemirovsky for her work ethic and her impressive dedication towards running multiple events. “Daniela is a great athlete and role model as both as a leader and an athlete,” he said. “She also is incredibly versatile in doing nearly all the sprinting events.”

“She works hard during practice and will never back down from a challenge,” he added.

Track and field coach and former girls’ varsity soccer coach Hilary Coder has spent many hours and many seasons coaching Daniela, as well as serving as her adviser. According to Coder, Nemirovsky’s desire to work harder and do better is unparallelled. “It doesn’t matter what it is—athletics, academics or even hobbies,” she said. “She simply wants to know more and more about it while working toward mastery.”

Toyin Augustus Ikwuakor, who has worked closely with Nemirovsky as Exeter’s hurdle coach, agreed with Coder. “I can’t think of a time when she complained about a workout,” she said. “She embraces the work knowing it is making her better.”

While overcoming many of the challenges all athletes face, Nemirovsky has also dealt with the effects of chronic injury over her high school career as an athlete. Since prep year, she has been plagued with shin splints and stress fractures. However, she has not allowed this to impede her training, her playing or her positivity. “Daniela has learned to weather the storms when they show up,” Coder said. “I have seen her react to an injury by showing up to help others get better.”

Ikwuakor agreed. “She has sustained injuries throughout her time here,” she said. “And her approach to these obstacles has been to seek the appropriate help and healing while still showing up to do any part of the training that her body allows her to do.”

Nemirovsky explained that part of her motivation to work and play through the pain is a desire to treat every practice and game like her last. “It’s really important to me that I always step off the field and know that I’ve given everything,” she said. “And that there’s nothing I regret even if it wasn’t my best game.”

For Nemirovsky, the team has become a family. She described how fulfilling it has been for her to go from a prep on the team to a respected leader. “It’s really rewarding to have been on the team for four years and to have looked up to all the captains I had,” she said. “And then being able to take all of what they taught me and try to put it towards being a leader on the team.”

She went on, explaining that as a captain, she seeks to lead by example and show her teammates the importance of hard work. “Even though every game might not be your best game, you have to walk off the field knowing that you did everything you could have done,” she said.

According to Pratt, Nemirovsky has done more than lead by example. “She is such a positive influence on the team,” she said. “She comes to practices and games focused and ready to compete, which helps everyone else get into that same mentality.”

Nemirovsky brings an extraordinary work ethic to athletics, but she also brings an inspirational love for sports.

Assistant soccer coach Alexa Caldwell commended Nemirovsky’s true commitment to soccer. “Daniela brings a genuine passion for soccer and a love of competition that elevates the level of play every day at practice,” she said.

“Soccer has always been my release,” Nemirovsky said. “I spend a lot of days before or after practice taking shots because I love it and it calms me down. I love touching the ball and it makes me happy.”

She went on, explaining the joy she gains from pushing herself everyday. “I love sports in general because I love to compete, but it’s very much with myself,” she said. “Competing to be better physically is a very cool thing. Being able to have a sport where you can really clearly see indications of how you’re improving is amazing.”

In both the soccer team and the track team, Nemirovsky has found a supportive group of people to support her on her journey as an athlete. “Having a team that’s so much fun and so supportive and a great community is irreplaceable,” she said. “It’s win together, lose together and you’re bonded as more than friends.”

A hard worker and a true leader, Nemirovsky is emblematic of a real and passionate athlete.

“Daniela is the girl who puts in the work and is ready to get on the line, or step onto the field and check in with how much progress she has made,” Coder said. “She is not afraid of either outcome and that makes her a formidable athlete.”

Coder went on. “She has both a rare tenacity and a rare level of selflessness that makes for one amazing person,” she said.

Ikwuakor agreed. “Whether defending her field space in soccer or hurdling on the track, Daniela is a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “We as coaches are so very proud of this young lady!”