By Jordan Mitchell

Special to SMUMustangs.com 

DALLAS (SMU) - Apollon FC midfielder Courtney Sebazco was hoping to play professional soccer in the states.  

That didn't work out.  

Despite receiving All-AAC nods three times during her accoladed collegiate career with the Mustangs, Sebazco wasn't one of the 48 players picked in the 2023 National Women's Soccer League Draft. A marketable and energetic midfielder that played three different roles during her four season collegiate career and unafraid to "do the dirty work," she tried her hand at a couple of open try-outs, but alas, didn't pique enough interest from NWSL teams to make a roster.  

However, head coach Nicole Nelson made sure that Sebazco wasn't deterred from playing professional soccer. 

After the draft, Sebazco was unsure that she even wanted to play professionally - in the United States, there are only 12 professional women's soccer teams in comparison to around 100 professional men's teams. 

But when she went undrafted and took a couple of days off from training, Sebazco realized that she still loved soccer. When she told Nelson that she couldn't picture her life without training and playing on a team, they began talking about options. 

They arrived at the solution of playing overseas.  

"(Coach Nelson's) main message was that she believed in me and that I still have more potential to unlock and more things to achieve in my career," Sebazco said. "My route is going to look different and could look different than everybody else around me or everybody else before me. She didn't want me to regret not taking the chance, especially when she feels like I've worked really, really hard to settle for anything less than what I've worked for." 

When Sebazco accepted her offer to play in Cyprus for Apollon FC, she was excited to be around other passionate and talented soccer players from across the world, but the thought of shipping herself to the Mediterranean - a 16 hour flight from Dallas - was certainly daunting. 

"My dad hardly missed an SMU game, even like the away games," Sebazco said. It created a pretty big homebody out of me." 

Sebazco grew up on the other side of the metroplex in Fort Worth and began getting recruited to SMU when she was in middle school by attending development camps at the university while competing for Solar Soccer Club. By the time that she arrived on campus in 2018, she had known former head coach Chris Petrucelli, Nelson and many of her teammates for years.  

Through her time at SMU, Nelson and Petrucelli consistently pushed Sebazco out of her comfort zone. Not only did her role in the midfield change every year, but she was challenged by her coaches to not be so perfectionistic in her approach to training and competing 

After playing a very anxious style of soccer where she was scared to make mistakes and let her team down, Petrucelli bluntly told Sebazco to stop thinking and start playing during his final season coaching the Mustangs in 2021.  

"That season with him, we made history and beat Texas in the NCAA tournament," Sebazco said. "I kind of recognized how hard I am on myself. Because I was being so hard on myself, I lost the joy of playing and being present." 

This past year, Sebazco played with a new confidence. After recording her highest shots on goal percentage since her freshman season, consistently taking penalty kicks and being reliable for her teammates as a compassionate and emotionally-grounded leader, she not only notched the AAC Midfielder of the Year award, but helped construct a healthier and more joyous culture around the program. 

During the pandemic-rampant 2020 season, seven players opted out and the remaining athletes were often plagued with injury and illness. Because the AAC requires a team of 15 available athletes, SMU had to postpone or cancel all but two games. The team finished 1-1. 

However, the upperclassmen were determined to improve the team's culture in Sebazco's final two seasons. In particular, she leaned into her extroversion and relationship-based leadership values. Sebazco and many of her teammates made an intentional effort to get to know one another as people rather than players and practice vulnerability to build trust within the team.  

Intentional team bonding paired with a passion to prove themselves as a competitive and talented soccer program produced two 12-win seasons in 2022 and 2023. 

"When you go a season without playing, you don't take it lightly," Sebazco said. "There were a lot of people that came together to change our narrative as a team. We really had to connect with younger girls and genuinely support each other for everyone to buy in." 

Sebazco took a similar approach to learning how to play with Apollon FC. Despite many of her teammates speaking different languages and practicing other cultural traditions, she actively gets to know each of them as individual people with individual needs.  

She says that despite the differences between them, they all share the same passion for soccer and family. 

"We had a team meeting the first week of me being here about 'What is our team going to be like? What are our values?'" Sebazco said. "Hearing the words 'support' and 'family' over and over again and in different accents and cultures was just really meaningful and impactful to me. I really feel like I'm getting to be part of another family."