HONOLULU - National Signing is just a few days away now. It's a day that high school athletes dream about, as they get ready to choose the school of their future. One player who knows all about the experience is 2015 Aiea alum and UH freshman Raisa Strom-Okimoto.

According to her Hawaii Surf soccer club coach Sean Kuroda, she was one of the main reasons the club went undefeated in their age group for nearly a decade.  And according to Wahine soccer coach Bud Nagamine, she is one the most inspirational players on the team. But before she could make that Bows' squad and take on teams in the Big West, Strom-Okimoto had two opponents to take on herself.

Two ACL injuries.

Two ACL injuries that would have caused most athletes to quit; and no doubt gave Strom-Okimoto one of the toughest fights of her life.

"It was hard. I was just there to support my team," said Strom-Okimoto. "I never had any serious injuries before so it was different for me. It was hard to cope with at first, being out for a year.

Her injury came during her freshman year of high school. An unfortunate cut on a non contact play resulted in tearing her left Anterior Cruciate Ligament, better known as a torn ACL.

But what is torn ACL? Officials describe the injury as result of a sudden change in direction or a pivot on the locked knee. In most scenarios, the injury can require surgery and keep the player sidelined for over nine months.

"Just rehabbing and getting it back together. The trainers that I had at the high school helped me a lot," said Strom-Okimoto. "I came back, because I was out my sophomore year of high school, and came back my junior year."

It was during that junior year that Strom-Okimoto exploded on to the soccer scene. She led the state in goals scored and took her team all the way to the state title game.

That was also the year that she received her scholarship offer from Bows' coach Michele Nagamine.  

"She was always a standout player," says Nagamine. "I knew about her character and her heart. She had a knee injury early on and it didn't even phase us."

But it was the following year in which disaster struck again.

Strom-Okimoto suffered another torn ACL, this time on her right knee, during her senior year of high school. This injury came during a tournament in Maui when the opposing keeper took her down from the back.

But this didn't change the way Strom-Okimoto looked in Nagamine's eyes. In fact, it was the way that she handled herself that made her an attractive recruit.

"I know she was disappointed at first but when I talked to her after her injury, I was reassuring her that her scholarship was safe and it changes nothing from our side. She was very appreciative and grateful for that," said Nagamine. "I've seen kids tear their ACL and never come back. For Raisa to do it twice, it just communicates a love of the game and a passion. That's why she's so successful."

Strom-Okimoto knows that she won't be the least athlete to go through multiple injuries the way she did. She hopes to be an inspiration to others and show that anything is possible through perseverance and hard work.

That is one of the qualities that, according to Nagamine, stand out about her the most.

"When something like that does happen, I think their character is measured through that adversity. Are they just going to buckle and give up? Or are they going to fight for what they care about which is the game," said Nagamine. I think Raisa is very inspirational. I think that kids who hear her story will be inspired by it. I'm expecting very big things from her. I know her best soccer is yet to come."

National Letter of Intent Signing Day is set for February 3, 2016. Be sure to checkout ScoringLive.com for full coverage of the Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance ceremony live from the Sheraton Waikiki.