Did you know that there is a u17 Women’s National Soccer team? Well there is and two students here at Fossil, sophomores Jaelin Howell and Sophie Smith, are on that team. Making any junior national team is a huge accomplishment, especially for these two students because they are fifteen years old playing on the u17 national team. Sophie Smith makes the comment, “The national team is just a little reminder for me that dreams do come true if you really work hard.” Though it’s a big accomplishment being on this team, it is very intense and time consuming. Every month the national team travels to California for training sessions. When they travel, they participate in either a camp or a tournament. Each time they stay in a hotel in California for one week. For camps they have intense training sessions twice a day with very little rest in between and for tournaments they play one game and then rest a day, play a game and then rest a day for the whole week. Being a part of a junior national team gets the players a step closer to playing professionally for the Women’s National team. It was the 2015 Women’s National team that recently won the World Cup.

After an interview with Jaelin Howell, I was able to learn more about her experience on the u17 national team and her soccer career. Jaelin plays on a Denver club soccer team called, Real National. One of her favorite memories with her club team was going to Nationals in the summer of 2015. They advanced all the way to the Championships but lost 2-3. Jaelin describes another one of her favorite soccer memories, “My favorite memory with the national team is probably going to South Korea last August. We played South Korea twice and won both times.” The national team is very important to Jaelin and she explains why, “I get to represent my country with some of my best friends who are from all over the country. It has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to be on this team, but I am not content and will always keep working.” Jaelin has been very successful with soccer over the last couple of years. One of her biggest successes was being announced as the number one ranked player in the country for her age group.

Sophie Smith is another important asset to the national team and she has created long lasting memories and relationships with her teammates. Being a part of this team has taught Sophie a lot about the game of soccer. “The difference between playing with this team and my club team and high school team, is that the pace, focus, determination and skill of the game is at a whole different level and my teammates are from all over the country.” The national team is important to Sophie because “everything I have worked for up to this day, is to be on the team. It has been my goal since I was little to play for the U.S. soccer team, and now that it has actually happened, it’s something that I want to stay in my life. Words can’t even explain the unbelievable experiences that it has brought to me and I will forever be honored to play the sport I love, for the country I love.” One of Sophie’s favorite soccer memories with the national team was playing in the NTC International Tournament. They won the tournament by beating teams from Japan, Canada, and Mexico. Sophie continues talking about the national team, “This team has traveled all over the world, too many places to name. My favorite place to go with this team is California, because we get to train at the StubHub center, which is where the L.A. Galaxy team plays, and we always see famous people.”

There has been a lot of talk throughout the sophomore class about where these talented players might go for college. Both Sophie and Jaelin plan to continue their soccer careers in college. Jaelin states, “I am in the process of committing to a college right now, and I think I have it narrowed down to two colleges, UCLA or Florida State. I hope to commit by the end of this year.” Sophie explains her college choices, “As of right now I have a lot of options as to where I could go to play college soccer, but my top schools are UCLA, UNC (North Carolina), Penn State, University of Virginia, and Florida State.” Because of their talent and soccer skills Sophie and Jaelin have received offers from many different colleges and it has been a difficult process choosing which college(s) they want to go to. Will they continue to play as teammates in college or will they become team rivals? After college both have the dream of playing on the professional Women’s National team. It will be interesting to see how their futures play out and the accomplishments they make along the way.