2010 Recruits

cbg2004, the BigSoccer blogger-guru of future year commitments, has confirmed directly with Ellen Parker's family that she committed to the Pilots in early January, for Fall 2010. Wow, high school sophomores making commitments! She must be high on the Pilots' list.

So, who knows something about her? My information is that she plays for the Sereno Soccer Club out of Phoenix and may be one of the Region IV ODP pool players.

NO question she was on the Pilot's "A" list. I haven't found out much about her. Not surprising, she's just a sophomore and on the public sites, at least, They don't often put up much individual player information for kids that young on the club sites.

No question she's in the '91 player pool. Check out
http://www.regioniv.com/odp/girlspools.htm

She's also been invited to the ODP region IV camp again this summer at the University of the Pacific this July
http://www.regioniv.com/odp/odpannGIRLS/031708.pdf


That puts her in the same group with Colohan and Verloo. and I think she was on an ODP tour last year.

That link or the OP rosters, BTW, are a pretty good start if you want to start tracking future pilots. (in fact, you'll see several of our current recruits there)


She's been in some showcases already. Now that she's verbaled, she probably won't be going to many more of those..

Here's an adidas showcase of top 96 girls where she played.
http://www.adidas-esp.com/Home/news2007/adidas_esp_2008_GIRLS.pdf

I gather from the adidas showcase material that she's an attacking midfielder ("AMF"), although that always could change between now and Fall 2010.

Wow! This is awesome...yet overwhelming news!! I don't even have the chance to appreciate the "incoming" 2008 class and then we already have an good idea of what's ahead...with the formation of the 2009 and now...2010 class??!! OMG...as much as I enjoy recruiting news...I'm beginning to feel like a glutton! Can I consume any more? Its feeling like I'm watching Nathan's Hotdog Eating contest....ooohhhh man!!!

Ellen must be a Phenom!! I'm curious to know how and what have the Pilot coaches have seen in her...so early? Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we have her...but I can't wrap my head around committing HS Sophmores. She must've been a standout in UP's evaluation and selection criteria. I trust Ellen was a standout in the 2010 class...in the Pilot coaches eyes!

GO PILOTS!!!

Maybe the coaches saw her in the USSoccer 2007 Nike friendlies

If you look at he last game, Ellen scored 3 goals. So she does know how to find the net....

Good job of nailing it, UPSF. I had heard rumors about Ellen, but my web searching has turned up nothing about a commit. Your contact seems very reliable, however, and a great place to check for future Pilot commits.

Ellen probably has not given any public interviews yet about her commit, thus the lack of info on internet seach engines about it. Her Soccer In College webpage, by the way, lists Notre Dame, Santa Clara and UNC as programs that were after her. Portland is not listed. I wonder if this might rate as a sort of coup for the Pilots, as being courted as a sophomore by these programs implies Ellen is one of the country's elite young soccer players. http://www.soccerincollege.com/athlete.aspx?id=FEP0911116AZ

A tremendous "get" by our team, and again it shows we are going to continue to be one of the country's elite programs for women's college soccer.

I'm curious -- what are the rules about recruiting for players of this age? Anyone know?

A school is not permitted to initiate contact with a recruit until Sept. 1 of their Junior year. They can't pay for a visit by a recruit until their Senior year. and then only one.

But a coach can respond to inquiries, the school can send out brocures in response, and a recruit can visit a University on her own dime any time she wants.

And the response CAN be an offer. The kid can then verbal, and the school will hold the spot until the kid signs in Feb. sr. yr, or changes her mind. Coaches usually want kids to be real sure before they verbal. Also, if a kid verbals, other schools will stop recruiting. (I love using that word).

There are all kinds of other rules, of course, about when a coach can do home visits, when they need to have NO contact etc. There are a coupe of brocures on the NCAA site that spell it out. Also, the big fat NCAA D1 manual does as well.

All this is happening earlier and earlier, it seems. And it doesn't seem like coaches ever stop recruiting or trying to find recruits in places no one else has looked.

Ellen Parker seems to have certainly done her homework and then made up her mind without reservation...about where she wanted to go to school and play. I like her already!! She has a no non-sense approach with decision making. I'm sure that attribute probably translated to how she plays on the pitch. I'm guessing... that the coaches discovered a player who exudes much maturity. EITHER that....OR the University of Portland Pilot Soccer Program has some really really really really nice brouchures?!!

Whoo Hooo! I'm beginning to like that FANatic call!

GO PILOTS!!!

There's one other Thing I didn't mention. Coaches don't have to sit around like potted palms waiting for kids to call. There are ways to let a kid know you are interested. One way is to contact the kid's coach. The coaches can then help kids get in contact with the right schools. That gives the club coaches lots of power...and it's one reason you hear college coaches saying things are out of control.

Having a good network of club coaches helps your recruiting greatly. Have you noticed how we get players from the same clubs year after year?

I talked to one kid who said the way she new colleges were interested is that they would get brocures in the mail to attend summer camps that all schools seem to have.

Of course, all bets are off with international players. Pretty much anything goes, there, it seems.

Once again...we all have to thank Clive for setting up the foundation of the program. There's a history of many players choosing to come to UP site unseen....Macmillan and Huie are a couple of player I remember....who made up their minds before even seeing the Bluff. The program's reputation and tradition preceeded...and continues to proceed itself today....as evidenced in Ellen's early verbal commitment.

Geez...you're so right about relationships to club coaches. Besides FC Portland....the one that came to my attention was when I noticed...."Laguna Hills Eclipse SC"....in many of the players resumes. That Club provided the Pilots with some of its most valuable players....Lauren Orlandos, Imani Dorsey, Kristen Moore, Erin Masaki and Michelle Enyeart!

GO PILOTS!!!

Phantom, you are right when it comes to Clive's well-laid foundation; it seems he developed a lasting friendship with Abner Rogers, who founded and directs Laguna Hills, which is indeed a phenomenal club. However, it is literally impossible for the players you mentioned to have played there, as it was only founded in 2001. The reason, I think, Laguna counts them as alums is because they are formers players of Abner's when he was with the Mission Viego soccer club. He has been around the West Coast forever, as an ODP Regional Staff coach as well as Youth National team coach, and was pretty tight with Clive. He founded Laguna Hills based in part on the original FC Portland Academy; he wrote a pretty great tribute to Clive on Laguna Hills' website here. (you may have to click "Tribute" on the top, right-side of the page to see it) If you read that (as I just did when I Googled Laguna Hills Eclipse), you'll see why Abner Roger's has been so good to the Portland program over the years.

Thanks KFTC! Actually, I'm quite familiar with the LHE website and Abner's tribute to Clive. I've had it on my "favorites" list for many years. In fact, I peek in there every so often to see if Abner is sending anymore of his players up to Portland. Back when I was a "newbie" Pilot soccer fan...Lauren, Kristen, Erin and Imani....were the first players who turned me into a mad futbol fan. They were truely the first ones to impress on me how beautiful a game soccer is. If there's one thing I have to say about LHE...I like the player-types Abner coaches and produces. Shannon Boxx and Amy Rodriguez are 2 non-Pilots that I like in particular. Abner and LHE has farmed out a lot of quality players. Jerry Smith and our rivals at Santa Clara seem to have a pipeline to Laguna Hills. They too have a long list of current and former Eclipse players.

You're probably right though. As many times as I've surfed their website...I missed the 2001 date when the club was established. I just always assumed that Abner started his own club soon after Clive got him up here and gave him a tour of FC Portland...not catching when he actually founded the club separate from his time at Mission Viejo.

GO PILOTS!!!

Here is the website for the AZ Youth Soccer Association's Olympic Development Program. You might want to bookmark it for future updates on Ellen Parker and perhaps other future AZ recruits.

AZ Youth Soccer - Ellen Parker

There are three mentions of Ellen on the main page. See if you can find them. (Hint: Read the page from top to bottom.) It seems our first 2010 recruit has been busy this year and is going to continue to be busy this spring and summer.

In another thread, perhaps related to the U23 game, it was mentioned that Sarah Bridges, a sophomore from Jesuit and 2nd team 6A All State last fall, may have been in attendance at the U23 games. She also runs track, and was included in the list of statewide best times across all schools in the 800, 1500, and 3000 meter runs. Today she took 2nd in the 6A 3000 meter run at the state track meet. Not bad for a sophomore; sounds like a jock.