University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Taylor Donohue
October 07, 2016 | Soccer
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
A senior midfielder from Lawrenceville, Ga., Georgia's Taylor Donohue is in the closing stretch of her collegiate career. The Bulldogs have five regular-season games left in the season, starting with Sunday's home game against LSU.
During a quick chat after practice Tuesday, Donohue talked about maturing during her time with Georgia, the simple joys of playing the game when she was young and much, much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: Who is somebody on the team, or any other Georgia athlete that you know, that you've come to really admire?
Donohue: I think Maddie Burdick — she's been my locker buddy the last three years and I think she's just tenacious, but in like a quiet sense. She works hard in everything she does, but she's very humble.
Frierson: You scored a ton of goals in high school — 28 in three seasons, I believe, plus thirty-something assists. You finally scored your first goal for Georgia a month ago, as a senior, when you had the game-winner against Kennesaw State. Was it tough to go from being a prolific scorer and distributor at Collins Hill to a different role with the Dogs?
Donohue: Freshman year it definitely got me down, because I felt like I was not making this difference. I think you as you mature as a player you realize that your role as a player on the team isn't always about being that star that scores or has that great assist.
It's about making the pass the gets there or the tackle that gets there, and I think I had to mature as a player to understand and be able to help my team in that way, and not let it get me down.
Frierson: I bet that game-winner against Kennesaw State felt really good, though.
Donohue: That was awesome. I've always been known to score from really far away, just because I'm in the midfield and I would always get forward. That's what I've practiced, a lot.
Frierson: What's something from your childhood that you really miss?
Donohue: I think I would say soccer. Like, as much as I love soccer now, now that it's coming to an end I'm starting to think about just all the times I had growing up with soccer. My dad and I would go out every Sunday and work extra for hours and it was so fun, and my sister would come out and we'd compete against each other.
I think I just miss the little things.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what's something creative you wish you could do?
Donohue: I wish I could sing. I sing everywhere I go and in the car, I'm just not very good. I definitely wish I could sing — it would help other people out, for sure.
Frierson: What do you do during the quiet times, away from soccer and school?
Donohue: I really enjoy reading, just any type of books. I really like action, but it has to be pretty quick from the start. It can't be that slow beginning, but, yeah, I love reading. When school starts it's a little tough to find time. I also watch Netflix.
Frierson: If you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self that was just arriving at Georgia, what advice would you have for her?
Donohue: Like the seniors that were there when I was a freshman told me, appreciate every moment and don't let anything get you down. It goes by so fast and I remember many times when I got really down on myself and it affected me, it just like took away from the time that I could enjoy soccer.
I think I would go back and really kind of change my point of view on my confidence, like I felt that because I wasn't starting I wasn't helping the team. I think if I could go back I would be more mature and be more of that piece of cake that we always talk about. You know how you need the whole team to make the whole cake, because every role helps.
Frierson: Are there any British or international soccer terms that you find yourself using? Has a field become a pitch? Has zero become nil?
Donohue: I don't. I have said pitch one time, as a joke, but I feel like it's weird. You have to say it in the accent to fulfill it completely. ... A lot of people say match and I'm not used to that, I just say game. I hear a ton of people say match now.
Frierson: Who on the team makes you laugh the hardest?
Donohue: It would probably be Bria Washington and Lauren Tanner. They're always joking and always laughing. We were on the bus the other going to lunch or something when we were traveling and they started talking in an accent and making up words, and they literally went on for maybe 25 minutes straight — and it was hilarious.
Frierson: Is there a part of the game-day experience at Georgia that you connect with the most? Is there something that still kind of gets you every time?
Donohue: Just the walk out, I guess. You kind of get chills, and it's an it-never-gets-old kind of thing. Looking back, it seems like I've only done it for a year and I still feel like I'm 18 years old. That's probably my favorite thing.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
