ECNL Girls Texas Conference U17: Three Center Backs to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highly competitive ECNL club league kicked off its 2024-2025 season on the weekend of August 24-25, with the first Conference matches taking place around the country and setting the floor for what's going to be ten intense months of soccer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Texas Conference has been one of the strongest in the league in the last few years and will continue to be this season as some of the most talented players in the nation represent clubs from the region. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Soccer Texas will be following the action weekly and providing coverage in text, photo and social media posts, giving the talented prospects from the Lone Star State some well-deserved recognition and exposure. We start our coverage featuring some players to watch in the upcoming season. This week, we'll dive deep into the talented U17 age group, this time looking into some of the reliable center backs:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["89586"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66cf763748e56"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Dedmon is a talented center back playing for Albion Hurricanes FC ECNL 08. She's one of just a few players in the position who are equally comfortable defending inside and outside the penalty box. That's because Dedmon is strong enough to dominate opponents with her physical game inside the penalty box but can also chase them in the central area of the field thanks to her impressive athleticism. The center back is also known for her ability to make runs through he middle, dribbling the ball through opponents to help her team offensively. She's very strong in the air too and can make a difference attacking and defending set pieces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/ChopDedmon2/status/1747422119674188282","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/ChopDedmon2/status/1747422119674188282 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["181370"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66cf763748ebb"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Rush switched clubs this season and will make an already strong FC Dallas ECNL 08 team even stronger with her versatility and quality. She can be used as a center back or as a defensive midfielder and in either position she'll bring defensive stability and quality on the ball. Because of her backcourt in track and field, she's very strong and mobile, using these attributes to win duels and cover ground. Rush is also very determined and aggressive and attackers operating in her zone won't have an easy task. She's also very effective in leading her team's buildup with smart passes and accurate switches.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14965088/653ffde12aa7cb0da0d2ad18' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66cf76374903d"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["112758"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66cf763749085"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">A recent Arkansas commit, Morawietz plays for Challenge SC ECNL08. Because of her 5'11" frame, she gives the impression of being a center back shaped to defend inside the penalty box, but her impressive mobility allows her to do much more than that defensively. Morawietz uses her size extremely well to make it very difficult for opponents to send passes behind her back or over her top. She's solid in 1v1 duels and is very strong in the air on both penalty boxes. The center back is very confident in possession and often makes good decisions when she has the ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilmGGgjbdjU","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilmGGgjbdjU </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->