Latest News

The story of a WSU walk-on athlete

When people think of college athletes, they usually think of players who don’t have to pay a dime for college. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply for the majority of college athletes, even at the division one level.

Brittney Petrosky was one of those walk-on’s when she arrived at WSU last fall. As a lifelong soccer player, she set her eyes on playing division one soccer, and she knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“I knew it would be a challenge,” she said. “The hardest part is proving yourself to the coaches. They don’t have to focus on the scholarship players much since they already have their spots on the team. So being a walk-on you have to prove yourself everyday you go out to practice.”

Petrosky made the team, and impressed the coaches so much that she played in every game for WSU this past season. She feels the team was always supportive of her regardless of the fact she was a walk-on.

“They defiantly didn’t treat me any different. Everyone on the team is like a big family, so it was easy to get adjusted to the team.”

As if things couldn’t get any better, Petrosky found out that she will be put on scholarship starting next season. She feels it is the culmination of hard work and great support from teammates and family that helped her get to this point.

“It’s hard for me to explain, but it really is a rewarding feeling,” she said. “I’ve always been a big family person, so having them with me through this has been really great.”

In under a year, Petrosky went from a walk-on with a dream to a scholarship athlete. She believes that walk-on’s should never be afraid to take a chance at something they want to do.

“You defiantly have to take a shot,” she said. “If you don’t, you’ll always wonder what if. So I think you should always try.”

Verified by MonsterInsights