PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILAGE REPORTER
ON TO TIFFIN … Swanton High School Senior Madelaine Diaz signs to attend and play soccer at Tiffin University, flanked by parents April and Shaun Bailey (left) and Girls Soccer Varsity Head Coach Kendra Gustafson (right).
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Swanton High School senior Madelaine Diaz in the last week signed with Tiffin University to continue her career in soccer while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology.
Diaz, a National Honor Society member recently recognized with a 2025 Northwest Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association academic award for having a GPA of 3.7 or above for her high school career, took part in a signing ceremony to make the announcement that she had selected Tiffin.
She said pursuing her sport was one of her main goals while also pursuing higher education. “Soccer is very important to me because I’ve been doing it my whole life,” Diaz said.
“It’s been such a – kind of like a place for me to just kind of take everything and just leave it at home and just find people, make friends, come together, play a good game.”
She said she chose Tiffin because the school’s soccer team represents everything, she thinks soccer is.
“They all come together for a good time. They play, they’re having fun, and they’re taking it seriously, but they’re also not like so serious where people’s feelings are getting hurt, and I think that’s just where my place is,” Diaz said.
Diaz’s parents, as well as her siblings, were present for the ceremony, held in the afternoon at Swanton High School. “I’m just really proud of her because she’s been working really hard to be able to play collegiate soccer.
“She’s gone to a lot of camps, she’s played travel, all of that,” her mother, April Bailey, said. “She’s been playing soccer since she was four. It was her first love, really.”
Bailey said the family is excited that Diaz gets to go to Tiffin because it means she will only have to complete a single major – forensic psychology, rather than the double major of psychology and criminal justice required by all the other schools she had been considering.
Diaz’s father, Shaun Bailey, said he was able to visit the campus. He said it was a great school in a great location and that it was a beautiful campus and also pointed out that he heard it was one of the safest schools in the country. But in the end, his feelings were simple. “I’m happy she’s happy,” he said.