In a recent video published by Lipscomb Athletics, senior Anna Buhigas talked about life both before and after joining the Lipscomb soccer program as a goalkeeper.
Abandoned and unloved are the last two adjectives that come to mind when people think of senior goalkeeper Anna Buhigas.
With her contagious smile and personality broadcast throughout campus, no one could ever expect the trials she has overcome.
At a young age, Anna watched her parents battle for custody during a long divorce process. She lived with her
mother until she fell ill with cancer and moved back to her hometown in southern Spain, leaving Buhigas in the states.
“I just remember the day that she left taking a little piece of my heart,” Buhigas said. “I felt abandoned and unloved by the only person that I wanted that love from.”
Buhigas then lived with her dad and spent her days trying to fill the void in her heart. She relied on affirmation from relationships, success in sports and material things to keep her happy.
Years later, her love of sports paid off when she earned several D1 scholarships in basketball and soccer.
Buhigas planned to play basketball close to her hometown until she met Lipscomb coach Kevin O’Brien and heard his dream to turn around the Lipscomb soccer program.
“I fell in love with what he wanted to do here and loved that they had faith in me,” Buhigas said.
After searching and searching, Buhigas said she could not find anything to fill the hole in her heart. Lipscomb offered a glimmer of hope, as it had a special sense of community that was appealing to her with it’s Christian atmosphere.
The first day she stepped on campus, Buhigas said she met a woman that changed her life forever.
The goalkeeper coach, Shannon O’Brien clicked with Buhigas and became much more than a coach to her.
“Shannon really changed my life,” Buhigas said. “She poured so much into my life and for the first time I really did feel like I had that mother figure.”
Buhigas said she built strong relationships with the team and her coaches and said they were her family. Last March on a mission trip with the soccer team to El Salvador, Buhigas said something changed within her and she felt God calling her to get baptized.
“It was March 17, 2016,” Buhigas said. “I felt like I had a family here on the soccer team and everyone loved on me. I wanted to be baptized with my family in El Salvador.”
Buhigas said she is now happier than ever with her new relationship in Christ and her soccer family.
As for life on the soccer field, Buhigas remains a strong asset to the team, according to her coaches. She has started every game since her freshman year, shattered goalkeeper records in the Atlantic Sun Conference, been All-Conference every year and has been ASUN Goalkeeper on the Year twice.
Not only has she excelled on the field, but the Spanish education major has been on the ASUN Academic All-Conference team numerous times as well. Buhigas has grown close to her teachers in the Spanish department and cares for all of them deeply.
“The teachers know me and invest in me,” she said.
Anna started off her senior year by spending the summer with a professional soccer team in Chicago called the Chicago Red Stars. She returned home to receive the prestigious award of being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for the first time in program history.
Top Drawer Soccer is the most popular soccer publication in the United States and Buhigas’ name was beside many athletes from schools including Santa Clara, Clemson, Duke, San Francisco, Minnesota, Arkansas, Florida State and UCLA.
As for the future, Buhigas hopes to pursue a career in professional soccer and teach Spanish upon graduation.
Photos courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics