Robbins Rewarded for Loyalty, Commitment to Trojans

LITTLE ROCK – There were tears all throughout the room for Shara Robbins.
 
The Trojan senior goalkeeper was crying as well.
 
"Oh yeah I cried," Robbins said. "I cry all the time, so I know no one was that surprised."
 
The reason for the tears? Robbins had just been honored by the Little Rock soccer program when Coach Adrian Blewitt decided to name an award after her at the team banquet in 2015.
 
The Shara Robbins Loyalty and Commitment Award will be given out every year to a player on the Trojan roster who exemplifies Robbins' qualities regardless of playing time or statistics.
 
"It's OK to see people get named all-conference and get high accolades for playing, but there's so much more that goes on behind the scenes to make the group cohesive," Blewitt said. "And it's time to start rewarding those people who are part of this program. Shara was the one who stood out as being through thick and thin with us."
 
Robbins' statistical success with the Trojans is anything but gaudy. In her four years with the team, she has played in four games for a total of 150 minutes. She has a 2.39 goals against average, one career start and one career victory. Trojan soccer fans may not know her or recognize her from the stands.
 
But ask teammates about Robbins, and their faces light up. They can't wait to talk about Robbins, what she means to them and what she brings to the group.
 
"She keeps me sane on the sidelines," said Sara Cavanagh, a classmate and fellow goalkeeper. "She keeps me upbeat. She's a great teammate."
 
"She's just positive all the time, and she always has a smile on her face," said Kayla Turner, Robbins' classmate and roommate. "She always brings a peppy attitude to practice all the time every single day."
 
The only Arkansan on the Trojans' roster, Robbins makes sure all her teammates are feeling at home on the field.
 
When they are having a poor practice or make a mistake in a game, Robbins is the first to try to console that teammate and get them in a better moody. When a teammate is feeling along or out of place, Robbins knows just how to encourage that teammate and remind her she is part of the Trojan family.
 
"These girls are my family," Robbins said. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't close to everybody. They keep me going."
 
They keep her going, and she keeps them going.
 
Away from the soccer field, Robbins may be the member of the Trojans who is most involved with other extracurriculars on campus. She is an active member of the Chancellor's Leadership Corps where she served as one of two senior representatives on the Student Success Council.  Three days a week, she works at the campus speech and hearing clinic, and she is involved in the faith organization Younglife.
 
Robbins also was the President of the Little Rock baseball's Diamond Dolls organization last season and was on the Budget Allocation Committee for the university's Office of Campus Life.
 
And she does all that while maintaining a grade point average over 3.5 and earning credit toward a degree in communication sciences and disorders.
 
"She's so busy, she's so involved," said classmate and fellow goalkeeper Sara Small. "You walk around campus and there's no one you pass who isn't like, 'Hey Shara!' She just knows everyone. She's the type of person that people want to get to know."
 
To top it all off, Robbins was named the university's Homecoming Queen in November of last year. She accepted her crown on the court during halftime of a Trojan basketball game. Cavanagh says members of the team still call her Queen Shara.
 
Even without soccer, Robbins clearly has plenty to keep her busy when you combine classwork with other on-campus activities. So remaining dedicated to Trojan soccer despite not reaping the rewards of playing time was an admirable quality that Blewitt thought needed to be honored.
 
And so the Shara Robbins Award was born.
 
The award was a total surprise to everyone at last year's team banquet. With players' families in town to celebrate Family Weekend, Blewitt made the announcement that the new annual award was being established.
 
Everyone stood up and applauded, tears were shed, and the Trojans' unsung hero got some appreciation.
 
"It was really cool just being the type of player I am for this team – here for support in ways and just trying to build everybody up," Robbins said. "Even though I know that's important, sometimes it's hard and I feel like I get lost in the mix not having that big in-the-game meaning to the team. But just knowing that everyone around sees that's why I'm here and that I do work hard to keep that positive attitude was really cool."
 
This year's winner, sophomore defender Bailey Fithian, earned the award for continuing to be vital part of the roster despite missing the entire season due to injury.
 
But players like Robbins and Fithian who – even though you may not notice it on the field – help keep a successful program together.
 
"There are many players like her who go to programs and don't get to play as much as they want to," Blewitt said. "She has just shown tremendous loyalty and commitment to her teammates and this program and stuck it out when others have left. I'm just so proud of her."