Ever since she started to kick around a soccer ball, MaKenzie Wegner knew she wanted to play college soccer. This fall she’ll have reached that goal after signing to play with Jamestown College in North Dakota. Wegner started playing soccer as a kindergartener in Texas, but after her family moved to Polson, she’s been a staple in the Polson soccer program and now has 12 years of experience under her belt.

Ever since she started to kick around a soccer ball, MaKenzie Wegner knew she wanted to play college soccer. This fall she’ll have reached that goal after signing to play with Jamestown College in North Dakota. Wegner started playing soccer as a kindergartener in Texas, but after her family moved to Polson, she’s been a staple in the Polson soccer program and now has 12 years of experience under her belt.

The Polson senior never gave up her goal of playing college soccer despite having three knee injuries along the way. Wegner’s toughness showed up during her senior season. She moved from striker to defense and earned All Conference honors for the Lady Pirates. With Wegner as one of the leaders, the team reached the Montana state playoffs.

“I enjoyed being a captain for the team and did my best in being a leader to the other girls,” Wegner said. “What I really enjoyed and was ecstatic to see was the freshmen stepping up and making the most out of the season. We played very well as a team and did a remarkable job of finishing the season strong. I felt I had come astonishingly far in my senior year.”

And boy had she. During her sophomore year of the spring soccer season, Wegner completely tore her ACL and had cartilage damage on her meniscus on her left knee.

“That left me heartbroken and with fears of not being able to accomplish my goal,” Wegner said. “It felt like I was useless. That didn’t stop me from showing up to practice, and the fear of not being able to accomplish my dream pushed me harder to try harder and succeed in my goal.”

Wegner spent the rest of the spring season on the sideline before helping her team at the Montana State Cup by playing on her injured knee. During the summer she trained and strengthened her knee so she could play her junior season.

But then the reality of her injury set in.

“I didn’t last through two-a-days,” Wegner said. “My knee swelled so bad that I couldn’t see my toes and had to get fluid drained to release the pain. That ended my hope to play soccer my junior year.”

Instead, Wegner decided to be the team manager to still support her team, but found not playing almost unbearable. She had surgery on her knee in the fall of her junior year and was practicing with the Polson FC spring soccer team just six months after her injury. However, Wegner ended up doing even more damage because she came back too soon. She had torn over half her meniscus in both knees and needed surgery again. That summer she had double knee surgery, and not even a month afterward, she was doing two-a-day practices again for her senior season. Wegner went on to finish with all-state honors, a sportsmanship award and was selected to play in the all-star game in Whitefish.

But the journey doesn’t end for Wegner after her senior season. With a chance to play college soccer, she’ll be playing against high-quality talent and in turn, testing herself.

“What I am looking forward to the most about playing soccer at Jamestown is meeting new people, starting a new beginning and building a team with many talented players,” Wegner said. “I really want to improve on my game skills and being with this bunch of girls with the same passion I have for the game I really think the whole perspective of the game is going to change for me.”

Jamestown College is a private Presbyterian school in Jamestown, N.D. that enrolls nearly 1,000 students. With other schools also recruiting Wegner, she said she based her decision on what educational opportunities the college had to offer.

“I got the opportunity to meet with the head of the education department and discussed with her the process of going through the Jamestown elementary education program,” Wegner said. “Finding out the master’s program they offer for elementary education, that played a major factor in my decision.”

A class size of 14 students per professor, along with the intimate campus and friendliness of everyone were also big plusses for Wegner. And then, of course, there was the soccer program.

“The soccer program at Jamestown is growing and improving,” Wegner said. “I felt that with practicing with the team and getting to know the players more I could easily fit right in. I spent a few hours with a couple of the teammates and played around with the ball and I felt really comfortable with the players and they made me feel like I was already a part of the team. The girls that worked with me during that session, they treated me with a warm welcome, encouraged me, and were willing to help me in any way.”

While Jamestown is over 900 miles from home, Wegner knows this is another chapter of her life and she’s looking forward to starting anew.

“I really think life is about taking risks and trying something new and that is what I am doing at Jamestown,” Wegner said. “I feel I’m really going to miss home, but I will be visiting as much as I can and hope to return to Polson to teach once I get my master’s.”

And along with that new chapter, Wegner is already ready for soccer season to start.

“With this group of girls in Jamestown I feel the love for the game is going to give me a whole new perspective and really is going to push me along to be better and do better,” Wegner said. “I’m just really looking forward to beginning a whole new season with my fellow teammates and accomplishing new a goal for the season.”

But when she looks back at her high school career, she has plenty of thanks for the people that have helped her through the years. She said that family members Cory and Angie Knutson, Brookelynn and Kylee Wegner and Shane Wegner supported her through the tough times.

“My family has dealt with my ups and downs soccer and supported me on the sidelines,” she said. “They have always encouraged me to play stronger and tell me what I need to work on and what I have been doing good when I have a bad day or even when I just need an ounce of encouragement. I have to say that when you love the game you’re never going to have doubts of playing, but you’re going to have times when you fall apart and need encouragement because you allowed your mistakes to speak louder than what you’re doing right, and that’s why you need encouragement from the ones that love you. My family and friends have allowed me to see that.”

Wegner was also extremely appreciative of her coaches, including Jess Kittle and Heidi Howell, who have spent countless hours with the Polson High School program and the Polson FC spring program.

“I can’t think of all the numerous times Howell and Kittle have pushed me and have worked with me and have stood right beside me the whole way of going through the obstacles and challenges I have faced just to live the dream of playing,” Wegner said. “They have been a mother and father figure to me and have really watched over me and have allowed me to never give up and to also realize that you have so much potential and to never let the fear keep me from playing.”

Wegner said that she’s ready to make the people that have supported her proud, and plans on being a soccer coach one day. Considering the road she has taken and the obstacles she has overcome, there are probably not many people that can tell others about reaching their goals better than Wegner.