Waterford  — Katie Schoepfer stood on Spera Field, the very same place that her love affair with soccer took root years ago, on Thursday.

As a youngster, Schoepfer would ride her bicycle a mile from her family's home to Spera Field, where she spent countless hours pursuing her dream.

Never did she think that she'd eventually return as a legend in the local soccer community and speak to young players attending the Connecticut Coast Girls Soccer Clinic, which is in its 23rd year this summer.

"I can't count all the times that I went here," said Schoepfer, the former Waterford High School star. "I've been coming here since I was five or six. It's definitely interesting. If you asked me when I was that age at camp, I never would have said that one day that I'd be talking at this camp and advising them on different steps in their soccer careers.

"But it's cool. It's a really cool opportunity for me to give back to a town that gave me so much and gave me so much pride. Growing up in Waterford and being a part of Waterford soccer was such a big part of me. It's important for me to give back."

Schoepfer, 28, is a local success story.

She ranks among the best female soccer players ever from the state of Connecticut. She set the state high school career scoring record and went on to have a highly-successful career at Penn State, becoming a two-time All-American. She also played for the U-17, U-20 and U23 national teams.

Her professional career lasted seven years and included 100 appearances — third all-time — for the Boston Breakers of the National Women's Soccer League.

Forging life-long relationships meant far more to her than any statistics.

"I look back and I'm really proud about how I carried myself through my entire professional career," Schoepfer said. "I tried my best to be professional and give the teams I was playing for a good name and inspire girls and be a good soldier on the team. I think I did a good job doing that."

Her playing career may be over but she remains involved with soccer on the coaching level. After spending three years as a volunteer assistant for the Boston University women's team, she was hired earlier this year as an assistant at Holy Cross. She also coaches on the under-12 level for Valeo FC, a club in Newton, Mass.

Schoepfer has benefited from having several positive coaching role models, including her father, Marty, who served as the women's basketball coach at Connecticut College.

Someday, she'd like to run her own program.

"I love the game of soccer and just because I don't play it anymore doesn't mean it's not a huge piece of my life," Schoepfer said. "I still want to be a part of it and be the best at it."

You could tell watching Schoepfer interact with the camp players on Thursday that she's clearly enjoying the next phase of her soccer career. She fielding a wide variety of questions, talked about the importance of putting your team first and being a good teammate, and also signed autographs and posed for pictures.

She reminded them that she got her start in the sport at Spera Field.

"It was not too long ago I was in your shoes walking across the field talking about Mia Hamm," Schoepfer told her attentive audience.

Schoepfer got Hamm's autograph years ago at a tournament. She still has the torn piece of paper that her idol signed stored in a plastic bag.

This summer, she worked at former Breaker teammate Kristine Lilly's camp with Hamm and played a pick-up game with her. She's still in awe from the experience.

"They have their heroes and I still have mine," Schoepfer said. "I have a good perspective on it just because I still idolize some of those people. ... I get where they're all coming from and that they want to talk about Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath and those players because it's cool to them. I'm glad they have those heroes because they've all been really great role models."

Schoepfer also fits the description of a great role model.

Rob Brule, Schoepfer's former high school coach, has watched her grow from a young player to an ambassador for the sport and hometown hero.

"She never lost sight of who she was and what was important to her...," Brule said. "If I had a daughter, this would be the kid. And I treat her like a daughter. She comes over, we hang out and we see each other whenever we can. ...

"There's no better ambassador. To know she just grew up a mile from Spera, it's even more impressive."

g.keefe@theday.com