DETROIT (11/13/2020) --  Ever since the Parra siblings can remember, they have been playing the game their Dad loved: Soccer.

Fast forward to more than a decade later and both Olivia Parra and Gabriel Parra are now Division I student-athletes for the University of Detroit Mercy women's and men's soccer programs, respectively. They are the second and third Parra siblings to play college soccer, following their older brother, Alejandro.

"Our dad was a very avid soccer player, so it was something from the earliest I can remember, it was something we were doing in our backyard, always together, Gabriel and I and our other brother, Alejandro, as well," Olivia Parra, a senior for the Titan women's soccer team, said. "We all played for the same club, every weekend, it was just soccer, soccer, soccer since we were about 4 years old."

"Soccer has kind of been our way of expressing ourselves," Gabriel said. "When we got on the soccer field, that's how we showed our talent."
 

All three Parra siblings played for the same club growing up -- Nationals Union. The younger Parra pair followed in the footsteps of their brother, Alejandro, who played locally for Michigan-Dearborn.

"He was a role model for Olivia and I," Gabriel Parra, in his second year with the Detroit Mercy men's soccer squad, said. "Seeing somebody that we looked up to achieve something, I was uncertain about myself and it helped my confidence and reassured me on the whole (recruiting) process."

"Watching him was an inspiration," Olivia added. "Just seeing him achieve that and just the excitement behind it all. It was stressful trying to get recruited, watching him go through it, talking to the coaches, visiting the colleges, and then seeing him achieve that, it was something that Gabriel and I were both looking forward to and then being able to go through that process and having the weight lifted of being recruited, my older brother helped us through it a lot. It was nice having someone older in the process just be there for us."

Now, both Olivia and Gabriel are carving their own legacies on the college soccer pitch after starring at nearby Henry Ford II High School.

Olivia is in her fourth year on campus at the University, having joined the Titans prior to the 2017-18 school year after being recruited by former head coach Mike Lupenec. She's has made her impact on the back line for the Titan women's soccer squad, starting in every game that she has played in the red, white and blue -- 46 matches in all across three seasons. She's been a leader on defense throughout her career, helping the Titans to nine shutouts during her sophomore season in 2018 and ranking second on the team in minutes played last season.

She's glad she chose the Titans for her academic and college soccer experience.

"I love Detroit Mercy. It's a great school. I was super excited to come here and I think Detroit Mercy is kind of an underdog school," she said. "They (opponents) don't think you are the best, but just being able to try and prove teams wrong and being able to go against teams who don't think you can give them a run for their money, it's something that I take pride in. It's something that I enjoy is going out there and proving them wrong. We are going to come for you. Being able to build those relationships with my team, with my relationship with Mike (Lupenec) and now with Steve (Shelton), it's been awesome. Looking back on it, I'm happy I didn't go anywhere else."
 

Gabriel was able to watch his sister for two years before deciding the University was also the best fit for him.

"Being so close to home and driving to her soccer games, it was really nice and she would visit on weekends," he said. "The campus, it's so convenient because it's around everything, so why would I not go here? My family is here and it's a great school. Everything just clicked and I wanted to do it."

"Like Gabriel said, being able to be close to home, having my family around me to support me and see them as much as I want, it's been great," Olivia added. "Anyone who asks me about Detroit Mercy, I say, 'this is honestly the best choice.' I love it, it's a great school. It's a diamond in the rough."

Gabriel also echoed his sister's sentiments in believing in the "underdog" mentality for the Titans, which offers a bevy of local talent from the Metro Detroit area for both the men's and women's soccer teams.

"It's really cool to not just only just meet the kids that we played against as kids, but also, like Olivia said, to be treated like an underdog here, it gives you a need to fight, to prove everyone wrong and men's soccer has something to prove," he said. "It's going to be an interesting next couple of years to turn the tables."

Both siblings are currently navigating an unpredictable and uncertain time in college athletics with the landscape constantly changing during the Coronavirus pandemic. Having each other on campus makes it easier.

"It was funny, I was here for two years without him and the next thing you know, Detroit Mercy is a small-knit school, and there he was," Olivia said. "And I was like, 'oh this is different.' It was definitely nice to have a family member around like that, it's comforting. Anytime he's practicing and I'm driving by going anywhere, I'll honk my horn and I'll scream so he knows I'm there. I don't want him to forget me."