Olympus High graduate Emma Neff is the first BYU soccer player to attend law school while still competing. She is balancing Big 12 conference play with a full course load at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, ranked No. 24 nationally.

Neff scored the golden goal that gave the Titans their first soccer state title in over 20 years in 2020. Now a senior defender using a fifth year of eligibility, she is the first soccer player in program history admitted to BYU Law while still a student-athlete, according to BYU's official game notes.

Neff's dual pursuit was first reported by the Deseret News on Monday, Oct. 5.

"I joke with my parents that now I sleep, and I go to soccer practice, and then I'm a law student for the rest of the time," Neff told the Deseret News. She estimated about three hours of her day go to soccer; the rest is law school.

At Olympus, Neff was a midfielder who finished her junior season with 20 goals and 11 assists, earning the Deseret News 5A Most Valuable Player award. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA and later earned an English degree at BYU before starting law school.

Her high school résumé also includes Academic All-State honors, a 2021 national club championship and a 2022 youth athlete of the year award from the Tosh soccer organization.

Keyan Norman, a former BYU football offensive lineman who attended BYU Law, estimated Neff is likely putting in 80 to 100 hours a week between soccer and her studies. Norman chose to defer his own law school admission for a year to finish his football eligibility first. A typical first-year law student spends 50 to 60 hours a week in class and outside study, he said.

BYU Law holds classes Monday through Thursday, giving Neff a scheduling cushion when the team travels on Fridays for road games.

The soccer runs in the family. Neff's younger sister, Anna Neff, is a freshman midfielder on BYU's roster who earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors for the week of Wednesday, Sept. 30, after recording her first collegiate assist in a 2-0 win over TCU. Their mother, Mondis Neff, played soccer at the University of Utah.

Head coach Jennifer Rockwood, the winningest active female head coach in NCAA soccer, is in her 32nd and final season after announcing her retirement in June. Rockwood said Neff manages to be "extremely competitive and feisty" on the field while maintaining excellence in the classroom.