After five seasons, three different colleges and working on her MBA, former Oglethorpe County girls soccer player Lourdes Tompkins’ collegiate playing career is over.
“I just feel so blessed to have something that was so hard to say goodbye to,” she said.
Tompkins, who graduated from OCHS in 2020, said she wasn’t serious about playing collegiate soccer until her senior season with the Patriots, when she realized it was attainable. However, her dad, Darrius Tompkins, who is an assistant coach with the Patriots’ cross country teams, had known for years that Lourdes could play beyond high school.
“She started playing club when she was 14, maybe, and I knew right then because even at the club level, she was better than the average player,” Darrius said.
Lourdes, who grew up in Stephens and now lives in Rayle, began her career playing two years at Gordon State College, formerly a junior college, in Barnesville, Georgia. She finished her time there with seven goals and three assists, starting 27 games out of the 28 she played.
From there, it was time to enter the transfer portal.
However, because Gordon State was a two-year junior college, Lourdes’ departure wasn’t accompanied by any ill will.
“Technically, you go into the portal, but it’s not like ‘I want to leave my program.’ It’s just time to move on,” Lourdes said.
From there, Lourdes transferred to Emmanuel University, where she played two seasons, with eight goals and two assists in 31 starts.
Her focus was not just soccer. It was also ensuring she received an education.
Lourdes graduated summa cum laude and seventh in her class with a 3.96 GPA.
“She completely used soccer to get her education, and she said education was the important part,” Darrius said.
After four seasons, Lourdes wanted to play one more season, exercising her last year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
She played her final season at Belmont Abbey, but her career ended in the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship game, when the Crusaders gave up a goal with seven seconds remaining to lose 1-0.
“I didn’t really have that moment to grieve in the game, so after that, I was just truly sad, because that’s it, no more soccer,” Lourdes said.
Lourdes scored three goals in 16 games at Belmont Abbey.
“It was sad when it came to an end, but I couldn’t be more proud,” Darrius said.
Now, with her collegiate playing career over, Lourdes will finish her MBA next fall and is preparing for her wedding in May with fiance Jarrett Boyd, who she knew from Oglethorpe County before reuniting at Emmanuel.