Riverdale, N.Y. — As the Manhattan women's soccer team prepares to make a trip to West Point on Sunday, redshirt sophomore forward Amaya Hill is preparing for a bittersweet visit back home, literally. As the second daughter of Colonel Aaron Hill, Amaya has lived on the West Point campus for the past seven years and is a proud product of a military upbringing.
"I was actually born in Virginia," Amaya said. "We moved to West Point when I was very young and then we ended up living in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, then Austin, Texas, and then we moved back to West Point."
Colonel Hill spent 27 years in active military service following his graduation from the United States Military Academy and his commission as an Engineer Officer in 1997. He has been deployed to Bosnia, Croatia, Afghanistan and the Sinai Peninsula throughout his career, with a prestigious engineering track record which includes two masters degrees as well as a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently works as the Deputy Department Head in the Department of Civil & Mechanical Engineering (CME) at Army.
"It's always something thing I'm gonna be proud of that my dad served," Amaya said.
Amaya will try her best to have Sunday feel like business as usual, despite having numerous family and friends in attendance to support her. Amaya's cheering section will consist of her parents, her two siblings, her grandparents and a host of friends from the area. This includes former teammates from James I. O'Neill High School.
Amaya's high school coach, Kristen Stroppel Leska 02', was a standout player for the Jaspers from 1999-2002 and is second all-time in program history for assists (18).
"The very first day she stepped on that field she constantly showed dedication, heart, determination and it was great having the conversations with her about Manhattan," Kristen said. "She would joke and say 'coach, I might just go there so I can break your records.' I would say if there was one person who I would want to do it would be her."
Amaya has had to battle through injury adversity to be able to fully return, which included logging 52 minutes in the season opener on Thursday night at Fordham. She missed all of last year due to recurring knee injuries, and before that had to get knee surgery which rendered her inactive for her senior season in high school. Aaron praised his daughter for the "grit" she has shown through all the injury adversity.
"What I'm really proud of is that she's shown so much grit and we see that in our cadets here," Aaron said. "With Amaya growing up with cadets and being around them while seeing what they go through, she has an appreciation for that and it shows in her character."
Aaron and his wife, Diana, who works as the Annual Giving Officer in the West Point Association of Graduates, are immensely proud of Amaya and what she stands for. In addition to Amaya, they also have a daughter Alyssa and a son Aaron.
The military culture and the respect it warrants has not been lost on Amaya.
"The West Point honor code is I will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do," Amaya said. "All around that campus that's such a big thing and those values have definitely been instilled in me…It's very different growing up on a military base because everything is so small and everyone knows what's going on, you just always have to make sure you're doing the right thing."
Amaya says her parents have been texting her nonstop since the Jaspers game at West Point was revealed. Amaya calls it a "full circle moment" to be returning to her home at West Point. For Amaya, the pregame routine will feature her habit of walking out on the field with her headphones on in hopes of canceling out some of the noise around her. Harry Styles will be blaring as she gets prepared for another game in her Manhattan career.
But once the Star Spangled Banner begins to play at Malek Stadium, the emotions will really start to kick in for the Hill family.
"It always feels different because my dad has been deployed and served this country for so long," Amaya said in reference to hearing the national anthem. "Hearing it on the West Point field is definitely going to be an emotional experience."
"I will cry while watching Finding Nemo," Aaron joked. "I am just a proud father and will definitely be crying tomorrow."
