Cousins close but compete on soccer field

Even to the casual fan, it doesn't take very long to see how close Danielle and Mikael Fuller are on a soccer field.

"They're very close," said Danielle's father, Dan Fuller.

"They've grown up together here in Spokane. They're best friends. They water-ski, snow-ski, camp and wake-board together."

Not to mention they look like sisters. Except they're not.

You see, Danielle and Mikael are cousins, and they don't even play soccer together for the same team. It turns out they play at rival South Hill high schools - Danielle as a defender at Ferris, and Mikael as a forward at Lewis and Clark.

Both started playing the game at age 6, under Dan Fuller's influence.

"I've been playing for years, and it was just kind of natural to have Danielle play and kicking the ball out in the back yard," said Dan Fuller. "I lived in South America for 11 years, so it was natural for me to play, and I've coached her ever since she was 6."

Often Mikael was near, as the two started playing on separate teams at 6. By junior high, they were teammates on the Spokane Skyhawks premier team and reunited again in high school on the Spokane Shadow premier team.

"We've grown up together since we were born," said Danielle, a senior at Ferris. "We basically are sisters. It's kind of fun to have a cousin who's your best friend."

"Growing up, we spent a lot of time together," said Mikael, a senior at LC. "We've always done all sorts of activities together.

"We've skied and run together, and we used to play basketball together. Every summer for as long as I can remember we've gone camping over Labor Day. "It's always been the two of us, and it's been a bonding time for us, and we spend quality time together."

You might figure that such familiarity would breed contempt, especially on the soccer field, but the cousins keep their emotions from getting the best of them when facing off against each other.

"It's really exciting to play her, and kind of nervous," Mikael said. "It's really hard to play against someone you know, that you're that close to, but when you come right down to it, it makes the competition between each other a lot stronger.

"Because I know her so well and because we are that close, it makes me want to try harder. It's kind of a fun thing to get to play against her."

"I think there is a little competitiveness between the two of us," said Danielle. "I think it pushes us even harder to win the ball because we know we're up against each other. It's kind of like being sisters, fighting for the ball and wanting to win.

"We strive harder because we're up against each other. ... At least I do. But off the field, I wouldn't consider us that competitive. We're not fighting for attention when we're with family. We're just pretty easygoing with each other."

The two faced each other for the last time in a regular-season match on Oct. 24 as Danielle scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-1 Ferris win.

"We beat them our freshman year, but they have beat us the last two years" said Danielle. "For me personally it is one of our biggest games of the year.

"Even though we're going off into the playoffs, it's kind of cool ending our last season game playing against each other. We were both there to experience it together."

As the high school careers of the Fuller cousins wind down, they look forward to playing the game they love through college and beyond, but more importantly, sharing each other's life.

"I see so much of myself in her," said Mikael. "We have so many things in common, and we get along so well.

"It's always been that way. There's never been a time when we haven't been close."

Copyright 2003 Cowles Publishing Company
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