Lakes senior midfielder Mia Silber is not an athlete who skates by.
Before she played soccer, Silber learned a lot about dedication as a figure skater.
“I was pretty good,” she said. “I was skating with girls three or four years older than me in skating programs that were ranked. I was at the rink every day. I had private lessons three or four times a week, plus group lessons, and then free stakes to practice skills, and off-rink classes like ballet for a couple of years.”
Silber enjoyed it too.
“It was definitely a lot of fun,” she said. “I liked the costumes and the glitter. Ultimately, it wasn’t the sport for me. I ended up quitting. I wanted to be a part of a team, so I went with soccer.”
Silber put in the work to excel in that sport instead and has succeeded. A high-level club soccer player, the Winthrop recruit led the Northern Lake County Conference champion Eagles with eight goals and eight assists last year and is a three-time all-conference pick.
Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said Silber is a rare elite player for his program and is also an effective leader with an unselfish attitude that sets her apart.
“She has some nice dribbling moves and is very good beating a player 1v1,” Kullby said. “She’s very good at setting up her teammates.
“She’s a competitor and doesn’t get flustered when things don’t go her way. She adjusts her game to figure out what to do to make better plays in the course of a game.”
Lakes’ Mia Silber shoots the ball during a game against Antioch in the Class 2A Lakes Regional semifinals in Lake Villa on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Mark Ukena / News-Sun)
Silber thinks she also has physical advantages as a former figure skater.
“I have more balance and flexibility and a higher vertical because of the skills and workouts I did for skating,” she said.
Silber’s father, Ken, agreed that her background in figure skating has benefited her.
“I think it gave her a lot of core strength,” Ken Silber said. “That was really helpful for her. I also don’t think she got burned out with soccer as fast as the other kids. But figure skating was hard because, unlike other sports, it was somewhat subjective in a lot of ways. That was hard for us. You can’t look at the number of goals scored or the scoreboard. It was also a lot of training for just one minute.”
Ken Silber said their family supported Mia’s decision to switch sports. Her younger sister, Anya, has followed the same path and is a freshman for the Eagles (2-1).
“(Mia) had a dream to play soccer at the highest level,” Ken Silber said. “She wasn’t trending toward that, but she’s a really good example of someone who puts in the work that you can achieve anything.”
Before Mia Silber plays at the next level, she wants to help Lakes repeat as conference champion. She was concerned her senior season would be affected after she suffered a high ankle sprain in the fall and was sidelined until January. But she has three goals and five assists in just three games.
“I worked a lot on my accuracy for shooting and becoming technically better on the ball,” Silber said. “I wanted to become an overall better version of me from my junior year. I feel like I’ve been doing that with my leadership and technical skills. I’ve become more well-rounded in almost every area.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.
