Haley Berg was a coveted recruit as a youth player who committed to the Texas Longhorns early in the process – in 8th grade, in fact. Her decision mirrored that of a few of the UT players we interviewed for the Raising Her Game docuseries. They also saw something in the program that made them want to go there from a young age. So we wanted to interview Berg to see how her experience matched with those of the likes of Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars, and EmJ Cox.

Berg, like Missimo, became the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and left Austin as a three-time all-conference performer who ranked in the program’s top ten all-time for goals and assists. We felt the midfielder’s subsequent journey through the professional ranks reflected some of the changes in the women’s game we saw unfold in the docuseries, so we wanted to talk about that topic with her as well. She now plays pro for Dallas Trinity FC of the USL Super League.

Here’s a transcript of the interview Berg did with RHG Director Rush Olson, lightly edited for clarity. You can watch the whole interview on video as well and stream the docuseries for free on Victory+.

Rush: Haley is one of the top players in the history of the University of Texas program and, of course, we did a docuseries all about how the sport of soccer and women’s sports generally evolved and we did it through the lens of the UT program. And so Haley, you were there immediately before the the group that we profiled the most, most intensely, but you had decided you wanted to go there a long time before that, as they did, a lot of those players on that team. Tell me how you decided it was going to be Austin?

Haley: Well, I, my family grew up being Longhorn fans. My first team ever, my dad coached it, we were called the Lady Longhorns, actually, which somehow worked out in the end, which is crazy. But I played a year up, so I was in eighth grade, but all my teammates were already in high school and at that time they were already getting looked at by college coaches, going to showcases. So it just kind of just happened because I was on the team with the girls who were already being looked at and so I did all the visits. I went around and, which is the crazy thing, is when I got the call to go visit Texas, I was, like, “No I don’t think so.” Like, “I think I kind of want to go, like, far away,” whatever, and then as soon as I got there, I left and I was like, “Yeah I want to go to Texas.” And then maybe, like, not long after, I called Ange and I was like, “I want to come.” and she’s like, “Perfect.”

Rush: What was it about Ange and her program that not only got you to want to go there but stay all four years?

Haley: I think I grew a lot as a person and a player when I was at Texas. I feel like I was tested a lot. We had to go through physical things that I had never been through before, whether it was running and lifting or my first day there as a freshman. I’m 18 years old and we have Navy Seals in the locker room and we’re on the field for six hours and I literally called my mom. I was like, “What did I get myself into? What’s happening?” And so just stuff like that. I think Ange really tried to help us not only on the field but with our mindset about soccer and pushing us to levels that we maybe wouldn’t have normally pushed ourselves to and now every time I’m about to do, like, a fitness test for another team, I’m, like, “Nothing is going to be harder than what I went through in college,” ’cause it was so hard. But I was also in the best shape of my life. I felt really good mentally. So it was really beneficial, I think.

Rush: So that training helped Haley become a professional soccer player and so you have played in places like Denmark and Spain and now with Dallas Trinity FC here back in Texas. What have you seen of sort of the player pathway, even from the time maybe you started at UT, that are opportunities for women in this sport to go and play and make a living at it?

Haley: Yeah, back then it wasn’t normal. You couldn’t just be 15 and go play professional. I mean you could maybe if you were, like, one in a million maybe, like, a Mallory Pugh. I think she didn’t go to college. She went straight, but, like, girls are in high school playing professionally and that wasn’t a thing. Also, leagues like the NWSL are so much bigger now than they were when I was a freshman. I don’t think I knew what the NWSL was when I was in college. I didn’t know what being pro looked like after school. I just know I wanted to be a professional soccer player but I had no idea the route I took or what I did to get there. So I think now it’s way more clear for girls and there’s so many more opportunities. I didn’t even know going overseas could also be an opportunity for me. I thought that was only for, like, if you’re going to, like, Arsenal or something, but there’s so many other amazing leagues that you can go to and I think it was such a learning process. But I think now there’s a lot of professional players who have helped pave the way and shine light on different leagues and teams and ways to get there, which is, it’s really powerful to see.