Evelyne Viens

Classroom

Evelyne Viens has excelled in the classroom at South Florida. Her academic achievements have not come without challenges, however. Growing up in Quebec, Viens spoke French instead of English in everyday life. As a student, not only did she have to transition to the American education system, but also she had to make that change while speaking a different language. Given these difficulties, she has still been able to shine in the classroom and will graduate this spring with a degree in accounting. Further, her grade-point average is truly notable. Over her three years, she has amassed a GPA of 3.62.

Additionally, Viens has been named to the American All-Academic Team in each of her three years and is also a staple on the USF Athletics Honor Roll. Viens was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Women’s Soccer Team as selected by CoSIDA for her accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom.

Character

Viens has become a significant leader on the pitch, especially for up-and-coming players. Her coaching them as a student-athlete has helped multiple players on the team develop their skills. Without her on-field leadership, South Florida women’s soccer would not be as good as it is today. As a leader on the team, Viens has read books assigned by Head Coach Denise Schilte-Brown and used the team-building principles to build bonds with her teammates.

Viens overcame obstacles to reach where she is today. She grew up in Quebec, Canada, before moving to South Florida and had to adapt to a new culture as well as a new education system. Viens transitioned to a new country while also having to learn a new language, as her native tongue is French.

Viens has one of the best work ethics on the team and works to bring up those around her. She is never satisfied with her abilities and takes losses as a challenge to be overcome. While she is a prolific goal-scorer, her number of assists is also notable. To date, she has totaled 20 assists—a definite sign that she boasts a “we over me” mentality on the pitch.

Community

Viens has made it a point to volunteer and assist in the local community. To date, she has recorded 27 hours of service in addition to her on-the-field endeavors. She leads during the team volunteering opportunities to make sure the organization with which they are working benefits as much as possible. She has volunteered with Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay, NCAA Bounce Blow Up, Boys & Girls Clubs and Metropolitan Ministries. She has dedicated her service to promoting healthy lifestyles among youth, whether it is through an organization like Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay, ensuring that children and adults get meals to eat with Metropolitan Ministries, or having a safe place to socialize and form a community with Boys & Girls Club.

Viens makes it a part of her routine to go to youth soccer games to encourage players as much as possible. She is a role model for a number of local teams and offers to help them when necessary. Tying into her character, Viens makes sure that her conduct around the youth helps build the game, and her mentorship has caused the game of women’s soccer to grow locally. Moreover, Viens is a part of Schile-Brown’s leadership academy, which helps coach youth on how to be leaders and develop personally.

Competition

The Quebec native is the cornerstone for the South Florida soccer team. A two-time United Soccer Coaches All-American (third-team, 2017 and 2018), Viens has broken multiple program records and was the NCAA statistical champion in multiple categories last season. The senior has also been named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List in both of the last two years.

Overall, Viens is the program’s all-time leader with 48 goals and 114 points, while having most of a season left to expand her lead. She is also No. 3 all-time in shots with 241. Viens holds three of the top 10 spots for most goals in a season. She scored the program’s single-season record of 20 goals in 2018 while scoring 16 in 2016 (giving her the No. 2 spot on the list) and 12 in 2017, which is No. 6 on the list as well. Last season, she led the team with 20 goals and finished second with seven assists. She was the NCAA statistical champion in goals per game (1.05) and points per game (2.47).

Adding to her accolades, Viens earned a selection to TopDrawerSoccer’s DI Best XI Second Team and was the American Offensive Player of the Year in 2018. In 2017, Viens led the Bulls in points (33), goals (12), assists (9) and shots (87), and her six game-winning goals set a new program record.