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.

We now have two 2010 verbals in the nationally elite Ellen Parker, well-described above, and the newly committed Sarah Bridges from Portland's Jesuit High School.

Interestingly, UPWSoccerRookie, in the above post dated May 22 of this year, seems to have anticipated that we would catch Sarah by the fact that he/she moved her to this thread where 7 weeks later she would indeed belong.

Great start on the 2010 class with two high-caliber recruits!!!

It sounds like we have a pretty good prospect in Rachel Mercik from Sacramento's Boca Soccer club. In the article with TopDrawer, she mentions UP on her list of schools she's considering. With luck, the next announcement might be that she's settled on Portland.



From the description of her play, it soundes like she'd fit right in.

As a little refresher, we will be getting Molly Klier from the same Boca club next year.

Interesting. If the Pilots do want her, I'm sure she is a great fit for us, based on the tremendous job of recruiting the Pilots staff has done in the last few years.

Great article, BTW. Sounds like she is unafraid to go 1v1 against anyone. I would call that "fearless'.

Keep us posted - Geez - if your "spider web" catches anything more about Rachel Mercik.

For the record Laguna Hills Eclipse started out as Julie Foudy alums "green machine" They terrorized the Coast league before taking best from the Mission Viejo club and other of the best players from around the region. There was many sour grapes from parents whose kids were not selected from Mission Viejo. Soon after the Eclipse was unbeatable for a few years. Mission Viejo was taken over by Billy McNihol of Galaxy fame and soon folded.
Although Abner and Clive were friends they are/were not even close as coaches/people. Abner is a great recruiter and promoter but he leaves the actual soccer development to other coaches. He is a master at spotting young talent and courting players to his team. All I can say is I am glad Portland has a "pipeline" to the club because most of the best players in so cal run either through Eclipse or Surf.

It's great to have "pipelines" in So Cal because of all the soccer talent amassed down there in that giant "people machine" of an area.

We do I believe have pipelines in other states, too, as we always seem to have a recruit or two coming in from an organization a former Pilot came from.

And I think our "reach" is slowly expanding nationwide.

(Before I get scolded for excluding the local talent, we also seem to be doing a great job of attracting some of the top talent in the state. Witness our 2009 recruiting class: think we got three locals in that class. Kendall Johnson, Taylor Brooke, and Elinor Priest.)

OK, I get to smile 'cause I got a scoop. According to the source that has the "player commitment" info that we have resorted to previously, Amanda Frisbie (forward) of the Dallas Texans has committed to the Pilots for 2010. I have not done any research on her yet, but if this info is correct, wouldn't she be the Pilots' second Texas player? Sarah Jackman being the first -- maybe Sarah knows Amanda? The coaches of the other D1 women's soccer "heads of state" must be going nuts as the Pilots expand their recruiting territory.

Caution: This source recently had a boo boo and listed a player as going to Notre Dame when she actually is going to North Carolina. The manager of the source was quite embarrassed. He admitted his error immediately and explained how the mistake happened, which in my mind lends him additional credibility.

Cool! good job.

Sara did play for the Texans (and the De'Feeters). Amanda will make our fourth Texas recruit. there is this McClusky kid from the Sereno club that seems to be doing OK, and Ellen Parker , also from Sereno SC, committed for 2010 last winter.

Her Dallas Texan's Reds '92 took the Youth National Championship in 2007.

Use this link for some information on Amanda Frisbie: http://www.e7sports.com/players/WSO/amanfris.htm

Also, Google her name and you'll find more.

nice link

I would like to attend a University that has a D-1 program that is either playing
for championships or is building to get there. I know I can help keep the
traditions going or I can make a difference to build new ones.
I want to practice everyday against the best and play against the best. I want
to play for a hands on type of coach that is committed to winning and plays a
possession/attacking style of soccer. I would like to play on a team that has
players that work hard, make the sacrifices to be the best and support each
other.
I would like the University to have the systems in place to support the student
athlete, that would help me to be successful with my academic goals. I have an
interest in Physical Therapy / Sports Medicine and or coaching.

She found the right place. Looks like she'll be joining Marta in the nursing program.

I don't want to be stingy...okay....yes I do....but let's get Bennet, Ohai and Mercik to verbal for the 2010 class and then....ummm...watch out once Marta is off her reshirt! Oh yah!

GO PILOTS!!!