On March 26, Massachusetts women’s soccer player Bella Recinos signed a trial contract with Fort Lauderdale Football Club. She is the second in program history to sign any form of contract after ending their stint with the program.
The agreement between the player and team is an “unofficial contract” that allowed Recinos to carry out a trial period, which lasted for two weeks. She also has a trial with a league rival in Tampa Bay Sun FC until the end of April, but she hopes to return to Fort Lauderdale afterward.
The Winter Park, FL native has always “wanted to be a homegrown player” and is feeling as though she is “living [her] dream right now”, even graduating a semester early in case an opportunity presented itself for her to further her professional career.
“[Signing] meant a lot; there’s obviously a lot of good players in the mix right now, so to even get an opportunity, I’m extremely grateful,” Recinos said. “Just to have a chance taken [on] me … is really great, and Fort Lauderdale is a great team … I’m extremely grateful to have been chosen out of a bunch of … collegiate players that are in the same mix.”
During her time in Florida, she is hoping to “not get scared or intimidated” by the players around her and stick to the confidence and mindset she developed over her past two years in Massachusetts.
During the 2024 season, Recinos tallied a career-high 10 goals and three assists to the program, contributing 23 points to the team throughout the season and totaling 1722 minutes on the field. She was also named to the A-10 all-conference first team and as an all-championship team member.
In the A-10 championship game against Saint Louis this year, she contributed the Minutewomen’s sole goal of the matchup.
“I want [Recinos] to continue to love playing,” head coach Jason Dowiak said. “What I hope for her is plain and simple, if she gets the opportunity that, one she deserves, [is] because she is absolutely capable of playing at the professional level … and that she gets valued the way that she’s earned.”
Starting a trial with USL Super League teams is not the first professional playing experience she has had, having been featured in the El Salvador national team for the last three years, totaling 141 minutes on the field during the 2024 campaign.
After her trials have concluded, Recinos is looking to start a law career and go to law school once she has an understanding of where she may be continuing to play next season.
Recinos emphasized her gratefulness for her coaches, who have been “the biggest advocate [she’s] had” at UMass. She attributed the place where she is today to their belief in her as a player and everything she’s done is because of their dedication.
“If you have a dream you just need to work at it every day and don’t let anybody tell you anything different,” Recinos said.
Emma Bensley can be reached at [email protected]
