Playing to Win

By Terry Tush

Courtney Dike is learning at a young age that everyone has to make tough choices. The Oklahoma State University junior may face one that’s a bit different than most as she begins her career: Will it be in accounting or as a professional soccer player?

“They’re both my passion, so it’s hard to decide right now,” says Dike. “I think it will depend upon what opportunities open for me.”

She speaks highly of the accounting program in the OSU Spears School of Business.

“I think the business school has provided so many opportunities for me when it comes to different firms to work with or just networking in general,” she says. “When I graduate, I’m positive I will have numerous options and different directions I can go because the business school has definitely prepared me for the real world and the things I’ll face after college.”

Her goal is to eventually become a certified public accountant, but that may wait a few years if Dike pursues a career in the National Women’s Soccer League.

“When it comes to soccer, the women’s [professional] league is improving and getting better. So, soccer being my passion, I wouldn’t ignore it if I got an opportunity to play,” says Dike, who has received All-Big 12 Conference honors each of the past three seasons. “But it’s not something I’ve decided yet. I think when the time comes I’ll have to weigh my options because either way I would be happy.”

Dike’s soccer abilities led her to scholarship offers from Texas, Notre Dame, Colorado, Tulsa, Missouri and Oklahoma after an outstanding high school career at Edmond (Okla.) North High School, but she signed with Oklahoma State. She has been a standout for the Cowgirls the past three seasons, and even caught the attention of the Nigerian Football Federation after her sophomore year.

She was invited to try out for the Nigerian Under 20 World Cup team that would be representing her parents’ native country over the summer. Dike made the team, tying for the team lead with three assists and for second with nine points in helping the Nigerian team to the finals and a runner-up finish. For her efforts, she was named Discovery of the Year at the Nigerian Sports Awards.

In February 2015, she received an invitation to try out for the Nigerian National Team with hopes of playing in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but it was in the middle of the spring semester at OSU. She left for Nigeria after taking her last final in May to try to make history as the first native Oklahoman woman to play in the World Cup.

“It was one of the hardest things in my life,” says Dike. “I really had to adapt since I was playing with all these experienced players who had been there for years and years, and I had just joined. That was a great experience for me.”

The OSU Cowgirl made the team and played in two of Nigeria’s three games during the group stage, including starting and playing 50 minutes against the United States during last summer’s Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“Becoming the first Oklahoma native to play in the [Women’s] World Cup is pretty amazing to me,” Dike says. “The World Cup is the pinnacle for most people’s careers, and to play period is an honor. For me to play at such a young age, it kind of opens my eyes to my future.

“It still kind of seems like a dream playing against the U.S., walking onto the field next to those players that I grew up watching was a pretty surreal feeling. I got to meet some of them before and after the game; that in itself was amazing for me. Being able to be on the same field as them and compete at the same level as them built a lot of confidence in me as a player. It was just a special experience for me,” says Dike, whose older brother Bright has played for the Nigerian men’s national team and has played professionally for several years.

Dike still has a year before earning her accounting degree and hopes to lead the Cowgirls to a Big 12 championship as a senior. Only then will she decide whether her future will be on the soccer pitch or in an accounting office.

“The experiences that I’ve had with soccer in general and the business school, I feel like have given me a really good picture of how life works out, and I think it’s going to help me in the future, whatever area I go into,” she says. “The skills I’ve learned on and off the soccer field, and through the business school here, I think they’re going to have a great impact on me and make me excel in whatever route that I take once I leave [OSU].”