Houston area productive outside backs
In this article:
Texas continues its tradition of developing elite soccer talent on the girls’ side, with prospects emerging from every corner of the Lone Star State to display tremendous potential and, at times, even make it to the US Youth National Teams.…
Access all of Prep Soccer
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingTexas continues its tradition of developing elite soccer talent on the girls’ side, with prospects emerging from every corner of the Lone Star State to display tremendous potential and, at times, even make it to the US Youth National Teams.
Every now and then, we’ll have weekly series highlighting a few of those talented players, but as they say, everything is bigger in Texas, so we’ll need to do it in part, focusing on one region at a time.
We start with the Houston area and these are some of the outside backs who do a very good job:
Kate Ornelas
Kate Ornelas
Ornelas is one of the captains of her high school team Bridgeland and plays club for Dynamos SC 06/05 in the ECNL Regional League. She’s more of a defensive-minded right back, who does a very good job of keeping opposing wingers quiet. Ornelas has a very good success rate in duels and is also very smart, forcing opponents away from the penalty box even when they get to beat her. She doesn’t push forward a lot, but has quality and confidence in her passing to assist the team’s buildup.
Grace Rossetti
Grace Rossetti
Rossetti plays high school in the TAPPS private league with St. Agnes Academy and club with Rise SC 07 in the Girls Academy league. Playing as a left back, she has great quality on offense, unlocking plays with her passing and beating opponents off the dribble. When she pushes forward, Rossetti typically does it more from the middle, where she can have more of an impact with her ability to hit the ball. Defensively, she’s very engaged and connected, taking advantage of heavy touches or inaccurate passes to win the ball. Rossetti is also very dangerous with her set pieces, sending dangerous crosses into the penalty box.
Emma Bates
Emma Bates
Bates is a key player in her high school team Port Neches-Groves and plays club for HTX 07 in the Girls Academy League. Her game is well-rounded and very intense, which gives her the ability to play multiple positions – she’s mostly used at right back and center midfielder. Bates is a hard-nosed defender, who’s very aggressive in her attempts to win the ball and stop plays and won’t back down against more physical opponents. She does a very good job of protecting her area of the field and gives attackers trying to beat her a very hard time. She also gets to contribute offensively by connecting smart, quick passes that keep her team flowing.
Quinn plays left back for both her high school team Kingwood and her club team Challenge SC 08 in the ECNL league. She’s a very determined player on defense, using every tool she has to stop opposing attackers in her area of the field. Quinn is extremely efficient with her interceptions, but also uses her body well to win duels and shield the ball. She can cross with precision and finish with power with her left foot, which makes of her an interesting piece to have beyond the midfield line.
Reddick was a starter in a loaded Ridge Point team in her freshman high school season and also plays for Albion Hurricanes FC 09 in the ECNL. She plays with a lot of intensity and is versatile, being capable of playing at either outside back spot, adjusting well to a back four or a back three. Reddick uses her athleticism extremely well on defense, putting a lot of pressure on the attacker she’s defending and using her pace to track back and cover her teammates when needed. She’s also an interesting offensive weapon, getting to the end line with ease and crossing with impressive precision. Reddick is also accurate with her set pieces, adding another dimension to her teams’ offenses.