W hen first-year student Emily Agi attends Georgia College & State University, she will be the third of three Agi siblings to be a Bobcat. 

The Brooks, Georgia family sent both her brother, Ben, and sister, Anna, to Milledgeville. Completing this clean sweep of Agi siblings, Emily is looking for a different kind of hat-trick this fall—as a member of the GCSU Soccer team. 

“When I first started looking for schools, it felt so overwhelming,” Agi said. “You don’t really know what your options are. Having Anna and Ben both go to Georgia College made it easier.”

“Once I started the recruitment process for soccer, I went to a bunch of schools. When I finally came to GCSU for an ID camp, it felt way more welcoming than any other college camp I had done.” 

Brother Ben began at GCSU in fall 2021 in the pre-engineering track and transferred to the University of Georgia last semester to finish that degree. Sister Anna came to GCSU in the fall of 2019 and completed her biology undergrad in spring 2023. She’s now pursuing a master’s in biology at Georgia College, while wrapping up her final year as a Bobcat Cross Country runner.

“Anna has made all of these connections in the athletic department and on campus,” Agi said. “To have immediate connections with the coaches and to (director of athletics) Wendell Staton was great. It was also helpful to have Ben and Anna show me around the town and campus, as well as telling me about the best restaurants and spots to go in Milledgeville.” 

“Anna is so protective, she’s like a second mom sometimes,” Agi said. “I know she’s doing it to look out for me, but it’s funny how she can make rules and Ben and I just will abide by them.”

But her sister knows the path to success as a GCSU student-athlete. A two-time All-Peach Belt Conference (PBC) runner that has positions all over the school record books, Anna is extremely driven and a high academic achiever. Anna is doing an internship this summer with SePRO in Whitakers, North Carolina doing algae identification for water quality. 

“Once my brother came down to Georgia College, we got a little closer, and I hope the same thing happens with Emily,” Anna said. “Being a part of the athletic department will help her out a ton. When I joined the cross country team it felt like I found my long-lost friends. I hear she’s already making friends with the other members of the team, and it will only get better from here.” 

As a criminal justice major, Emily is ready to explore. 

She’s not sure if she wants to go into field work or perhaps add a mass communication minor to go into the broadcast journalism side of the field but she knows she can seize an opportunity, just like she does on the soccer field. 

“I have always been a very eager, excited—my parents would say crazy—enthusiastic person, full of energy,” Agi said. “The position I play, right wing, features lots of running and full-force action. It amplifies the intensity of soccer for me. It energizes my personality and interest in soccer, because it’s so driven and fast-paced. Knowing I’m part of the success in goal scoring is a confidence boost as well.” 

Emily’s GCSU connections go beyond family. 

“Head coach Jack Marchant and graduate assistant Lindsey Bolas kept great communication with me,” Emily said. “They were enthusiastic and welcoming, appreciative of my efforts in soccer and the hard work I put in. I wanted to go somewhere where I felt wanted, and that made GCSU that much more desirable. It made me feel like I had a place.”