Posted June 5, 2025
While most of us have played soccer, Denver Online senior, Shayla Lueras, competes in a much more unique type of soccer: table soccer, most commonly known as foosball.
“The most important thing I’d say is to learn your ball control, which is just being able to dribble the ball and keep it in your possession,” Shayla said as she explained some of her training techniques. “So the best way to do that is to kind of just move it back and forth like this.”
Shayla participated in her first major tournament at age twelve.
“When I had just gotten there, I found out that my grandpa had passed away,” she remembered. “I was basically playing in his honor.”
“I ended up winning my first title there, and it’s still my biggest trophy to this day,” she said smiling.
Foosball has always been a family affair, now training daily with her step dad who is ranked at the highest level of master.
“We have tournaments every Thursday and every Saturday,” she explained. “On Thursdays it’s like a Monster Draw Your Partner. So you do five different rounds with five different partners, and whoever gets the most points out of all those rounds goes to the next round where you draw another partner that you stay with until the end.”
Earning her way up through the ranks, Shayla has competed around the world.
“Foosball is taken so much more seriously in Europe,” Shayla explained. “The tournament is in a big coliseum and there are schools taking trips to come see you play and getting your autographs. It’s definitely an ego boost, but it also makes you feel like this sport that’s so barely recognized is important to people.”
With only a few short weeks to raise money for her plane ticket, she has her sights set on Spain.
She said, “I’m trying to go to Zaragoza, Spain because that is where the next World Cup is being held. And I’m a part of team USA this time. I’ve officially earned it.” Find her GoFundMe link here to help her get to Spain!
She had previously attended the World Cup in France as a team substitute, but this time would be different.
“I earned it this time,” she said passionately. “People know that now, and I get to show them now that I have the ability to be there.”
Not only has she earned her spot at the World Cup, she also recently earned her high school diploma.
“I’m about to go to college, and I know what I want to do with my life, and I’m confident in all that stuff,” Shayla explained. “It’s really relieving for me.”
Competing in eight different states just this year, Shayla came to Denver Online seeking an educational environment that afforded her greater control over her schedule.
“You can turn in your work super, super early or you can turn it in later without repercussions, and that was appealing to me because I’m like, wow, so I’m able to get my work done before my tournaments, and then I can go and not worry about anything. That was super cool to me.”
She described another tip to training, saying, “Another important thing is to try to figure out how the table manufactures it where the men can move, so that you can see spots that are always available.”
Her next steps? “I’ve been accepted into MSU,” she said. She will pursue psychology and plans to become a child therapist.
“When I was younger, I just had a lot of issues with my mental health,” she noted. Previous schools sometimes left her feeling unseen, saying, “They couldn’t really pay individual attention to anybody. Even when I was skipping classes and failing classes, I was just never really seen as a priority to the administration there.” She continued on, “But at Denver Online, when I was procrastinating, and I was failing my classes, I had Ms. Fenton texting me constantly trying to make sure I was getting stuff done. And I think that’s how I kind of want to be as a therapist. Just constantly making sure that my clients are good and they are doing what they need to do.”
Shayla’s goals as a future child therapist align perfectly with the priorities of Denver Online faculty as she said, “I just want to be able to show kids that they’re not alone and they do have someone who cares about them and is willing to accommodate to what they need.” Because every student deserves a shot, a winning shot, at success.