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09/16/2021 12:00 AMWith both her parents and all three of her sisters being soccer players, it seemed like destiny for Ada Forbes to follow in their footsteps on the pitch. During the past four years, Ada has made a name for herself with the North Haven girls’ soccer squad by becoming a key part of the team’s offense and now captain in her senior season.
Ada started playing soccer in North Haven’s youth league at age five. At the time, Ada’s mother Jen and father Chris were coaching both her and her three sisters: Katie, Abby, and Reagan. The Forbes’ family often spent hours together on the soccer field, and there was no place where Ada would rather have been.
“My parents both played, and all of my sisters played. Every Saturday morning, it was six hours at the field for all of us with my parents coaching all of them,” Ada says. “It was really fun having my parents coach. They never treated us differently. They wanted us to work harder. I learned a lot. I loved playing for North Haven.”
Ada played at the recreational level until she started competing for the North Haven Middle School team and the town’s travel team. Through these experiences, Ada made strong connections with many teammates who now play alongside her at the high school.
“I’ve been playing with these people the entire time, since the North Haven town league when I was five. It’s so good for our chemistry,” says Ada. “On the field, you can see that we have played together before. We know where to pass the ball, and we work so well together.”
Ada was predominantly a central defender while growing up, but started playing forward in middle school. When she joined the high school team, Ada became a full-time striker for North Haven. Ada loves the feeling of scoring a goal and then celebrating that moment with her teammates.
“The feeling of scoring a goal is so great. Everybody is screaming for you. Everybody is so excited for you,” Ada says. “My teammates helped me get that goal, and now we’re all jumping up and down together in a huddle. It feels great. It feels like our hard work pays off.”
Ada earned a starting varsity spot for North Haven as a freshman. Ada found that it was a tough transition to go up against older players in an intense setting, but once she learned how to get back up after being pushed down, the game came more naturally for her, and she was able to find her footing at the varsity level.
Now a senior, Ada has maintained her starting varsity role ever since. In the years that have passed, Ada has gained has a better understanding of what it takes to play striker and her approach to the sport overall.
“I look at the game differently than I did then. I wasn’t too sure how to play forward. Through the years, I’ve learned how to play my game,” says Ada. “I don’t play with the ball. I play gap soccer. I try to beat people with my running, rather than my ball handling.”
In addition to being a four-year varsity starter, Ada was named a captain for North Haven alongside junior Giavanna Damone this year. It means a lot to Ada to be a captain and get a chance to lead teammates that she’s been playing with since her youth days. Ada believes that she and Damone are going to make a great pair as North Haven’s captains.
Ada helped North Haven kick off the 2021 season with a 3-2 win over Lyman Hall by scoring two goals in the victory. Head Coach Gary Collins says that Ada is an exceptional leader for his team and has grown immensely as a soccer player over the years.
“Ada is a player that works very hard and encourages her teammates in a positive way. She started off the season scoring two goals and played a very good game,” says Collins. “Ada playing at the club level in the spring exposed her to tougher competition, which will prepare her to have a successful fall.”
Ada has also been a member of North Haven’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams since her freshman year, running the 400 and the 800. At first, Ada did track as a way to stay in shape for soccer. Over time, though, she realized how much she enjoyed the sport.
“I like the competitiveness of it,” Ada says. “You put in all of this training for just two minutes of a race. I really love it.”
As she begins her senior year at North Haven, Ada’s goal is to help the team in any way she can to succeed and reach the postseason. After she graduates, Ada is hoping to play soccer at the collegiate level.
Whether it’s playing with her family or competing for her hometown high school, Ada loves being on the soccer field. Ada says there is no group of people who she would want to play the sport with than her North Haven teammates.
“I love the game so much. I do it because it’s fun. I don’t do it just to win. It brings me so much joy. It’s my stress reliever. I’ll go outside and play by myself for two hours,” Ada says. “These players around me love it just as much as me. It’s so refreshing to be around people like that.”