If you're searching for an example of what a university-ready athlete coming out of high school might have looked like, search no further than forward Alanna Shaw.

A member of the Manitoba Soccer Association's National Development Centre for all four years of high school, she — along with the rest of the top prospects in the city — would train at Glenlawn Collegiate in the mornings before class. Shaw was also a member of the elite Manitoba Blizzard club squad, who would play in tournaments in the United States with the hope of getting scouted by American universities.

At the end of her high school career, Shaw had many options, but when push came to shove, she decided to stay at home and committed to the Bisons for the 2015 season.

"The biggest reason why I decided not to go to an American university was because my family and friends are here, and I really wanted to stay at home for school," she says. "The U of M just felt like the right decision for me."

It didn't take long for Shaw to become comfortable at the U SPORTS level. She began training with the Bisons during the winter of her senior year of high school, which helped her become more prepared. By the time the regular season rolled around, she'd found a spot in the lineup, starting in all 14 regular season games while tallying three goals and three assists. She started every game of her sophomore campaign as well, recording a goal and an assist with seven shots on net.

"I found it easy, because I'd been playing competitive soccer for a long time through the provincial team and stuff like that," the student in the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences says.

"I was ready to play. Definitely there's some big girls on some university teams who can play very physical, but I was ready for a new challenge."

But Shaw's biggest challenge was yet to come. During a tournament in March of 2017, she tore her ACL and was lost for the entire season. Instead of getting down on herself however, Shaw – who was named an assistant captain for the 2017 season – took on a mentorship and support role for her teammates.

"I got more into the team in a leadership role. So that definitely helped me stay connected to the team," she says. "Some people quit after a major injury like that, but I definitely didn't want to go out on a bad note. I wanted to come back for my last year of school and last season with the Bisons."

At the year-end banquet, Shaw took home the Spirit Award, which is team voted and given to the player whose behaviour and unselfish attitude was most inspirational to the team as a whole.

"It was definitely an adjustment for me," she says of her time off the pitch.

"In my first two years, I thought of leadership as I needed to be on the field with the team leading as an example as a player. But now I had to do it through my positive attitude and my encouragement of other people. I guess that showed."

Now back at 100 percent, Shaw is looking forward to ending her Bisons career in style.

"I'm very excited," she says. "It feels like the closing of a chapter for me because it's my last year. But we're going to go out with a bang for sure."