Huntley alum Taryn Jakubowski embarks on pro soccer career in Finland

Several weeks ago, Taryn Jakubowski woke up in her apartment and smiled at her roommate, Gabby Cuevas, with whom she was starting a new job.

“We were like, ‘We’re getting paid to go play soccer, go kick a ball around, how nice is that?’ " Jakubowski said. “It’s an amazing experience. It’s totally out of a lot of people’s comfort zones.”

Jakubowski, a 2016 Huntley graduate, packed up a few personal belongings and moved to Kuopio, Finland for her job, playing professional soccer with Kuopion Palloseura, which plays in Veikkausliiga, Finland’s premier league.

Jakubowski, the 2016 Northwest Herald Girls Soccer Player of the Year and a graduate of Creighton, is living her dream of playing professional soccer.

Although she is playing defender at left back, a position almost as foreign as her new home, Jakubowski, 22, is thriving. She has played every minute of every game (450) for Kuopion (5-0) and even scored a goal in her fourth professional game.

“I absolutely love being here. I love soccer. I love this team, living outside my comfort zone,” Jakubowski said. “I haven’t thought about how long I want to play. I want to be the best and do as much as I can to help this team and help other people get better.

“Once you get here and start to experience a new culture and different people, you have to learn to go be really independent. There are going to be good days and bad days, that’s normal for anyone. It’s just a cool experience that a lot of people can’t say they did.”

Andy and Michelle Jakubowski, both high school teachers and coaches, urged their daughter to follow her dream of playing professionally. It took Taryn more than a year after she finished at Creighton with a degree in psychology, but she made it.

“We said, ‘If this is what your passion is, we’re going to support you and do whatever [you need],’ " said Andy Jakubowski, Huntley’s baseball coach. “It’s totally on her. We’re grateful that the stars aligned and everything happened for the best. It took a little bit longer than we were hoping for, but she persevered.”

The COVID-19 factor

Taryn Jakubowski embarked on her professional career at an inopportune time, the COVID-19 pandemic. She graduated a semester early and put her name in for the NWSL [National Women’s Soccer League] Draft.

When things did not work out there, Jakubowski started training in Schaumburg, where she played with FC Sockers while growing up. There was a training group called Bridges, which included men’s and women’s players, most of whom had played professionally or at a high level in college.

“It was like a glorified pickup game,” Taryn Jakubowski said. “I got to do that pretty much a whole year and that helped me so much. My confidence and speed of play and everything.”

It also was where she met Cuevas, a former UConn player who has the same agent [Rafael Castro] as Jakubowski. Cuevas was signed by Kuopion and arrived about a month before Jakubowski did [in February], so she helped her out with how to live in their new city.

Getting acclimated

Kuopio has a population of 120,000 and is located in central Finland. The language barrier presents some difficulties, but Jakubowski says she and Cuevas adapt.

“Most of the girls on the team speak English, or try to,” she said. “Our coach [Ollipekka Ojala] explains things in English and sometimes in Finnish. It’s been great. The girls have been so welcoming and trying to be super-inclusive, which is so nice. The coaches have been trying to make sure we feel at home.”

Andy and Michelle Jakubowski try to watch Taryn’s games online around their schedules. Michelle coaches volleyball at Barrington and her season ended a few weeks ago. Andy is in the thick of the baseball season.

“The Finland girls have taken her in,” Andy said. “She likes to go out to the cafe and they play cards a lot. She never played cards when she was here. She loves it, minus the cold weather.”

Fitting right in

Taryn Jakubowski appreciates the love for the game the Fins have.

“You can tell soccer’s a lifestyle for the girls here,” she said. “They study it. They watch it all the time. Everything is so much more crisp. You just have to be on top of your game every single day.

“The speed of play, even the soccer IQ is heightened. People know where to be at all times and are so crafty with the ball.”

One cultural difference Jakubowski and Cuevas struggle with is shopping for food.

“I can’t read anything,” Jakubowski said with a laugh. “I don’t know what I’m buying. When I have to go to the doctor’s office or something, there’s usually someone there to piece together some English things for me.”

The last week of March was a particularly good one for Jakubowski. Kuopion had not played league games yet, but something significant transpired.

“She got her first paycheck,” Andy Jakubowski said. “She was really happy after five weeks. She said, ‘I’ve waited my lifetime to get paid for this, it’s an awesome thing.’ She’s having fun.”