Florida boasts a variety of talent

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first of two stories on players from Florida, the theme here is the variety of talent. They are from all over the state and play a variety of positions. From between the posts all the way to playing up top, these four girls are excellent talents with extremely bright futures. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='111930' first='Emily' last='Baird'], Keeper, Alonso, Class of 2027</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A freshman keeper at Alonso High in Tampa, Baird plays club for Florida Premier FC's ECNL 2009 team. She has been invited to the South Region team in 2022 and the Florida ODP team for three years running. She is a keeper that is brimming with confidence right now, playing with a ton of courage and composure. She has shown so much determination and hard-work as she continues to improve this club season. Baird does not back down from a challenge, she puts in maximum effort into anything she does and is a very coachable, competitive player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='137052' first='Cecilia' last='Nowicki'], Central Defender, Saint Johns Country Day, Class of 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A junior at Saint Johns Country Day School in Jacksonville, Nowicki is a junior central defender who also applies her trade at Jacksonville FC for the 2007 ECNL team. Nowicki is a gritty defender, one who leads by example by making challenges, being physical with attackers and stepping or rising for a ball. She is a great communicator on the back line as well. A highly competitive player, Nowicki is also very good with the ball at her feet. She's technical, can distribute, and is dangerous on set pieces. She excellent in 1v1 situations, and that's because she is an unrelenting, aggressive and physical defender. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":147631,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/09/image0-1-2.jpeg?w=820" alt="" class="wp-image-147631" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Rich Rizzo</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='33341' first='Gianna' last='Rizzo'], Forward/Midfidler, Stoneman Douglas, Class of 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Versatility is the name of the game for Rizzo. She can not only play forward and midfield, but she can play all three of the forward positions, as well as two of the midfield spots, center mid and attacking mid. A driven player, Rizzo plays with focus and determination. She is hard-working as well. Defenders don't have an easy time against her because she is very technical, can use both feet and is very quick. She has good height and size, and seems to be able to glide around defenders. Rizzo plays club for FC Prime's 2006 ECNL team and attends Stoneman Douglas High.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='57221' first='Gabriella' last='Sussman'], Defensive Midfielder, Cypress Bay, Class of 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A junior at Cypress Bay High in Weston, Sussman is a stand out player, not just for her school, but for her club as well. She plays club with Florida United's 2007 GA team. A skilled player, Sussman is a holding mid that demonstrates great composure. In addition to having great ball skills, she is effective, knowing when and where to distribute to and is excellent in locking up the back third in defense. She plays with aggression and is a disruptive player for opposing attacking players. She stays focused and plays with a relentlessness, always doing the job that needs to be done. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->