Maree Harrison is the mother of NSR athlete, Riley Harrison (VIC), who is the goal keeper at Bethany College in West Virginia. We contacted her after Prospect Manager; Dana Tamos received a beautiful email to fill her in on how Riley has been doing over in the US:
Riley left Australia in August 2014 and has been having the time of his life. He is the goal keeper for his team and considering he is a freshman, has had the opportunity to play quite a few games in the season. He tells me that the season has been up and down with their wins and losses but having a lot of game time is just a great experience for him. There is so much Riley loves about the States, he loves travelling for games because he gets to see more of the country, he loves training and he absolutely loves the college life.
Riley came down for Christmas to join us this year and we were beyond happy to see him. Riley, on the other hand couldn’t wait to head back to the States after six weeks with us, and although we were sad for him to leave, we can’t tell you how proud we are. To be honest, as parents we would also be slightly disappointed if he got to attached being back in Australia. We want him to experience the US fully as he has worked hard and it has taken us all a lot of time and effort to get him there.
On behalf of Riley’s family and I, I would say being at the airport was one of the most difficult moments we have faced. It was distressing thinking we didn’t fully know what he will be doing every second of every day and would have limited contact. What gave me a huge relief was Riley’s soccer Coach, Sean Regan- he was terrific! He was in contact with us before Riley left and then picked him up for the airport in the US.
Riley’s father and I have been so impressed with Bethany College. Riley used to be a student that was all about soccer and not so much about his schooling always doing the bare minimum in Australia. We are so happy to hear how well Riley is doing academically and he says his perception has changed because he is finding all his subjects interesting and professors so welcoming. To prove how small this world really is, one of Riley’s favourite Professor’s, Travis Straub was down in Australia over the Christmas period visiting his brother who lives in the same town as us! So we all caught up for a coffee.
To be completely honest, when I first heard of NSR and what they do I was one of those very sceptical parents and it seemed too good to be true. Now I see that Riley sees purpose in his life and is becoming more of an adult everyday by engaging in the college life as an independent. As long as my son is happy, I am happy. He’s having a ball, but there are some things parents don’t need to know, just as long as he is safe.
He is learning and experiencing more every day and he has planned a trip to New York with his friends to see one of them compete in a boxing match. He was so nervous before leaving; now he has strengthened his character and I want him to have a crack at everything.