PARKLAND, FL, U.S.A.
STUDENT, SOCCER PLAYER, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS H.S, PARKLAND, FL
02/14/2018, PARKLAND, FL, U.S.A.
Freshman soccer player Alyssa Alhadeff “took every second of her life and did something with it,” according to her mother, Lori Alhadeff, “She had the fire to fight.”
Alyssa was on track to play soccer in college, and dreamed of being a member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, her mother added. She was on the debate team. Alyssa was thinking about becoming a doctor one day.
“She aspired for that greatness,” Lori Alhadeff said. “She was probably one of the smallest on the team but the feistiest.”
Laurie Thomas, the girls’ soccer team coach, said Alyssa was the “voice of our team.”
“She was a leader, not just by what she said, but also by the character. She led the team on and off the field.”
“Alyssa Alhadeff was a loved and well-respected member of our club and community,” according to the travel soccer team. “Alyssa will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and all the other victims of this tragic event.”
Months after the shooting, Lori Alhadeff won a seat on the county’s school board.
“I want to do everything possible to make this school system a model that other districts will look and try to replicate,” Lori Alhadeff said.
Lori Aldaheff does not want “any other parent to go through the pain and anguish I go through every day.”
The Alhadeffs and the Stoneman Douglas girls soccer team traveled to Orlando to watch the U.S. women’s national soccer team play against England. Before the game, a moment of silence was held for Alyssa Alhadeff and her picture was posted on the Jumbotron. Her teammates stood in the stands, holding posters bearing her pictures and messages of friendship.
The family and team were also each presented with a U.S. national team jersey, complete with Alyssa Alhadeff’s name and her number: 8 on it. After the match, members of the U.S. soccer team met with the Aldaheff family and the team from Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Alyssa Aldaheff was 14 years old.
During her daughter’s funeral, Lori Alhadeff encouraged all of Alyssa’s friends to jot down their fondest memories of her and to send them to the family. She told them to live for Alyssa going forward and to make something “beautiful” of their lives in honor of the slain teen.
“Honor Alyssa,” she said. “Be something fabulous in your life. Be her voice.”