Alyson Gammons is one of seven first-year players that make up the 2020-21 Salem soccer roster, which are considered a major part of the future of the Spirit soccer program. Gammons and the other members of the 2024 class, along with the nine sophomores that are in place on the roster, will attempt to lead Salem back to the USA South Conference Tournament for the fifth time since the 2016 campaign.
Gammons, a native of Ridgeway, Virginia, joined head coach Octavia Saunders' program after graduating from the Carlisle School in 2020. Gammons was a multi-sport athlete that competed in volleyball (2015-19), basketball (2019-20) and soccer (2016-20). She served as head coach Jeff Lochrie's soccer captain from 2017-20, earning a number of accolades during the course of her prep career including the Soccer Coach's Award (2016-18), Second Team All-Conference (2016-20) and All-Tournament Team (2016, 2017, 2018). In addition to competing for her high school program, Gammons also played on the club soccer circuit for 11 years (2010-20) for Piedmont Youth League Soccer under head coach Wes Lewis.
Gammons also left her impression on the basketball court for Carlisle School head coach Bill Adkins, capturing the team's Basketball Coach's Award in 2020. As a volleyball player, the highly-competitive Gammons served a team captain 2018-20 for head coach Julianna Carter. By the end of her four-year volleyball career, she had earned Most Improved Player (2017), Second Team All-Conference honoree (2019) and Most Valuable Player (2019) accolades.
A well-rounded student and contributor to the Carlisle School community, Gammons was the recipient of Citizenship Award as a sophomore and senior. These honors came in large part because of her active role in volunteering with Communities Helping Improve Local Lines (junior, senior), Afterschool Math Tutoring (senior), Carlisle Cares Community Service (freshman, sophomore), Carlisle Mentoring Program (freshman-senior) and Chick Fil-A Leadership Academy (sophomore).
She maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her high school career, making the Honor Roll Trustee's list in each of those years. Academically, she was distinguished as a Faculty Award (senior), Yearbook Award (senior) and Brown University Book Award (junior) recipient. Gammons, a Junior Marshall, was recognized as making highest achievement in language and composition (junior).
Named as a member of National Honor Society as a junior and senior, Gammons was active in Inter Club as a freshman and sophomore. She utilized her skills in English and composition as senior yearbook editor.
Gammons recently sat down to discuss her future at Salem, both off and on the field, and provided the following answers:
Name: Alyson Gammons
Sport(s): Soccer
Who inspired you to play this sport and why? As a kid, I loved going to watch my high school's soccer games and desperately wanted to try it out for myself! I ended up falling in love with soccer when I was 4 years old and it has been a big part of my life ever since!
Describe some of the things that you have done while being away from campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, that has made an impact on your life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have spent so much time at home with my family and it has shown me just how blessed I really am.
Favorite Food: Definitely lasagna!
Favorite Class at Salem: My favorite class I am taking right now at Salem would be my Salem 110 class which is about Motherhood and its history. It is a very interesting class and provides insight into all of the aspects of being a mother and the hardships they had to go through from hundreds of years ago to now. Overall the class gave me a whole new appreciation for mothers and all that they do.
What is the one thing that you have learned most by competing in athletics that you apply in everyday life? By competing in athletics I have learned that your mindset is everything and is something that everyone should apply in their everyday life. Without the right mentality or mindset, I believe that you will never be able to succeed or truly feel accomplished.
What do you look forward to most in taking the field for the first time at Salem?: I am looking forward to not only being able to play the sport I love with my great teammates but also to grow as a player and as a person.
Intended major and any thoughts about your career once you finish college?: I intend to major in Business Administration with either a concentration in marketing or entrepreneurship and would love to own my business one day. My dream is to open my own restaurant in an old building on Main Street in my hometown to help give back to the community that I was raised in!
Superstitions that are in my pregame ritual: My superstitions that are in my pregame ritual are to triple knot my cleats (I know it is odd) and always wear a pre-wrap headband that matches my uniform.
How did you pick your jersey number: Before Salem, I would always choose the number 2 as my jersey number because that was "my number" and considered it to be lucky. However, when choosing my number for Salem I decided to go with the number 22 because not only was number 2 taken (haha) but I also felt like this is another chapter of my life so the #2 was in the past and #22 is the now.
Favorite person to follow on social media: Sadie Robertson is one of my favorites to follow on social media because she is so inspirational and always brings laughter and love to every situation. She also has the cutest little family!
If you could travel anywhere where would you go: I have so many answers to this question but if I was to choose one I would probably choose Canada because it is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking destinations.
What made you decide to attend Salem: When I went for my first visit there, which also was the soccer ID camp, I felt at home and like I was already apart of the Salem family. Then when I went back for my overnight visit I fell in love even more and truly felt like I could spend the next four years there, it simply just felt right!