“My parents did an amazing job letting us choose whatever sports we wanted, so there was no pressure there,” said DiMaria. “I played high school basketball for three years. But I think growing up, watching my siblings play from the sidelines, seeing how much fun they had out there, it just was in me to want to do this. I feel I naturally gravitated towards soccer.”
It’s a vision that really started to crystalize for DiMaria when she was 14 years old and made a conscious decision to throw herself into the game.
“My family are my biggest supporters, like huge fans,” she said. “We all support and take pride in everyone’s success. My dad is always willing to get out on the field with me. He’s never said no to a training session! He’s the best.”
The DiMaria kids honed their soccer skills in countless 2v2 battles in the backyard. More often than not, it was Maddie and Ana against their brothers.
“We would lose a lot, but it made us 110% better,” said DiMaria. “As we got older, the battles got better, and then we started switching teams.”
During the COVID months, mom and dad joined in, turning the games into 3v3 with Jeff playing with the girls and Sara with boys.
“Honestly, three years ago I decided I wanted take soccer super serious, and ever since then I’ve been dedicated to working on my finishing in and around the box,” she said. “As a forward, you only get so many opportunities in a game, so you have to be clinical. I don’t think my success this year was just one thing, it just all came together. I’ve been put into good positions playing with great players and it kind of all clicked, which has been super exciting.”
Like all U.S. Youth National Team players, DiMaria aspires to one day play for the senior side. But she’s not putting pressure on herself, nor is she in a rush. She graduated high school early and knows that college soccer awaits. She will be attending UNC, where she will be playing with U-17 WWC teammates Amari Manning, Deus Stanislaus, Carolina Reyna, Grace Murray and Gianna Hanf – look out, ACC! A U-20 Women’s World Cup cycle is also on the horizon, so for now, she’s taking things one game at a time.
