Marieke Bravo: All-Star, Leader, Volunteer

Name: Marieke Bravo

Age: 17

School: Darien High School

Accomplishments: There's not much of an off-season for Blue Wave soccer co-captan Marieke Bravo. The rising senior plays soccer for Darien High School in the fall and club soccer for Eastern C.F.C. (Connecticut Football Club), which makes her off season an on season.

"The club league is made up of players from all over Connecticut as well as New York and New Jersey, and that makes for a very competitive league," said Marieke. "It's a premier league and it keeps you finely tuned." 

No rest for the weary, but Marieke likes it that way. She'll be one of four captains for the Wave this season — along with Caity Dee, Katy Close, and Leslie Yuen — and is captain Eastern C.F.C. The 5'8  center/midfielder was All-FCIAC First Team last season as well as All-State Class L. She was also All-FCIAC as a sophomore.

Key to Excellence: When Marieke isn't playing soccer, she's coaching it. She works with kids on weekends with the Blue Wave Kickers Program (3-6 years old) and is an assistant coach with a U-10 travel team. And when she's not playing or coaching, she works with "Invisible Children," an organization at DHS that helps third world countries by contributing  books and raising money for kids.

She and the Bravo family have also helped to build four libraries in Nepal, having raised over $12,000 for a group called "Room to Read."

Marieke, the daughter of Jolanda and Ken Bravo, has four siblings: Kyrsten, 20, and Michelle, 19, who attend college in Canada; a brother, Dylan, who's a freshman at DHS; and Nathalie, who's a fourth grader.

Marieke hasn't decided on where she wants to go to college yet. "I've narrowed the list and expect to make a decision soon," she said.