Maryland Jeff Cup Preview: 2010 Human Highlight Reels

2010 is right in the sweet spot of recruiting right now. The oldest are about to hit their June 15th date, the younger are about to get that trapped 8th grade year back when the age group changes go through this summer. This will be the year of 2028s, and the 2029s are next in line, those are the years that make up this group of current 2010s. Jeff Cup is one of the bigger prestige events here in the Mid-Atlantic, although the formula of who gets in and who doesn't is still a bit of a question mark, I have no better suggestions, so I'm staying out of that debate, but at least most of the big name players and clubs will be there. Some of my favorites from the Old Line State:    Bella is one of the top 2010 GK in our area, it's a small community and they pretty much all know who each other are, so it's funny to watch them interact sometimes. Bella plays for Catonsville HS outside of Baltimore and she's one of those keepers that has the ability to just flat out steal games from teams that should be more than a match for them. She's got a good mix of size and speed, and a fantastic set of hands. Over the past few years watching her, she's been developing a new bag of tricks, like taking away corners, and getting better on the build out, which is what happens in this development window. Now that she's on the cusp of her June 15th date, she's going to have some attention. She's done the US Development Camp circuit, she's been to some big time college ID camps. She's no secret around here, but about 3 months before she can make some much bigger noise. I can't wait to see where she ends up, they are getting a great one.     Ok I'm not informing anyone of anything new here, if you're from this area and follow soccer at all you know who Val is. I feel like I should just be on record acknowledging how great she is, at her age and what she's achieved already is just fantastic. She's the kid the current girls just starting club ball are going to be looking up to for the next couple decades. For those who don't follow, or maybe live under a rock, Val is on the US U16 team, she's the youngest player in the USL playing for the DC Power, who may also feature the future of GK for the Washington Spirit currently. She also recently got to play with Seattle Reign at the Coachella Valley Invitational, and then was set to complete a 2 week training with the club after. Normally I'd be waiting for June 15th to see who gets lucky enough to land her, but I wonder at this point if she may be the next of the teenage superstars to take up residence in the NWSL. For those of us here in Maryland, we are so proud of her, and can't wait to see where she ends up next. For the other teams who get to run into her [program_tooltip program_id='283621' first='Bethesda' last='SC'] 2010 team, good luck with that.     Zoe is one of the standout players for the 2010 [program_tooltip program_id='278061' first='Maryland' last='United'] ECNL team I watch for when I get to catch them. She's an explosive midfielder with excellent touch and passing, but her highest trait is probably her IQ. She's an exceptionally smart player, you can see her reading the field, seeing 4 options and ranking them in her head which are the best to worst options, switching to the next up if the defense adjusts to take something away. She's got goals of being a surgeon when she gets older, and you can almost see that approach when she's out there on the pitch. Read. Evaluate. Attack. My favorite part of her game is just watching those wheels turn and seeing the way she sees the game. She's a tough one to pin down.     Devan is one of the more solid defensive prospects out there in Maryland. If you're a GK, this is the kind of girl you want watching your back. She plays a good physical game, but she doesn't abuse it, giving just the right amount of bump at the right time to disrupt a play without drawing a foul. She's got good footwork and does a good job getting the ball out of the scrum, whether it's a through ball outlet, or switching the field, she plays both well and can do it under pressure with both feet. Not much else you can want from a defender. She can play CB and the 6, and is just that perfect style of steady defender you need to build a team around. There are a select few people that get excited to go to a soccer game and watch a defender just make plays, I am one of them, and the coaches recruiting at Jeff Cup probably make up the rest.     Sofia plays for the [program_tooltip program_id='283436' first='Potomac' last='Soccer'] Club's GA Aspire team, and I like to share the wealth from just the typical highest level clubs, so she's a good one to get some focus on. She's listed as a defender/mid but I've only really ever seen her on offense. People ask me why some forwards never pan out, or why some exceedingly fast players never make that next step, and one of my usual responses is that a shooter almost needs to be it's own position in soccer, it's a skill in itself and just because someone is fast, or can get the ball up the field, doesn't make them a shooter. Sofia will pull the trigger, she's got nice touch and movement on her shots, but she knows to focus on the highest percentage shot and will put it in vs trying to get fancy or overpower something. If she gets some space in the offensive end, the keeper is in trouble, skimming the post, chip, hooking the ball into the corner, she's got a bag full of scoring tricks and she will use them.    This is obviously just a small taste of the buffet on display at Jefferson Cup this weekend. I hope people get to experience what Maryland has to offer and some of these players that don't often get attention get to really show out. I've got a list of players I've been waiting to make it to higher level teams and get to show the country what they can do. It's one thing to be able to do it, it's another to do it when and where people are watching.

2010 is right in the sweet spot of recruiting right now. The oldest are about to hit their June 15th date, the younger are about to get that trapped 8th grade year back when the age group changes go through this summer. This will be the year of 2028s, and the 2029s are next in line, those are the years that make up this group of current 2010s. Jeff Cup is one of the bigger prestige events here in the Mid-Atlantic, although the formula of who gets in and who doesn't is still a bit of a question mark, I have no better suggestions, so I'm staying out of that debate, but at least most of the big name players and clubs will be there. Some of my favorites from the Old Line State: