2024 Georgia Forwards To Watch In The Spring Season

With rankings being released from the Class of 2024 we are going to be focusing on the forwards coming out of the class and how they stack up against each other. These girls have set themselves apart from the rest of the class with their prolific and unique attacking talent. Players are nicely spread out through the different high school class divisions through Georgia and going into their junior year are set for big seasons. Only being juniors they still have time to prove themselves and further cement their status in the rankings.     #1 [player_tooltip player_id='21757' first='Kara' last='Croone'] (Chamblee HS 5A)   Kara sits at the top of forward rankings as a dynamic and all-action forward who can do a little bit of everything at an extremely high level and with great efficiency. Able to play in tight spaces, beat defenders off the dribble and shoot well with either foot, she is a nightmare for defenders and makes her presence known. Her numbers over the last season are proof of her ability beyond just watching her play. With 46 goals and 22 assists in 2022 with Chamblee, her average of almost 5 p/g is a testament to her abilities. Not only that but she is a leader on the field and ice cool in big moments as I watched her get 3 goals and 2 assists in her championship win for Chamblee against Midtown.      #4 [player_tooltip player_id='21570' first='Aurora' last='Gaines'] (Cambridge HS, 5A)   Next, we have [player_tooltip player_id='21570' first='Aurora' last='Gaines'] who comes off an impressive year for Cambridge as a sophomore with 11 goals and 3 assists for her first year on varsity. Helping Cambridge to a finals appearance she will be looking to improve upon her numbers and be a catalyst for another playoff run in the 2023 season. Aurora is a fantastic player who combines a high soccer IQ and ability to read the game, supreme technical ability mixed with a great physical profile. She constantly times her runs and reads defenders and picks up the ball or receives the ball at full speed and has the quality to finish chances or put her teammates in. Typically operating on the right wing or as a center forward she will often take the ball and cut inside to get a shot across the goal or find a teammate. What stuck out some the most was her ability to slow the game down to her own pace and when the opportunity comes she explodes before the defense can react. Colleges already took notice and Oklahoma University already has her committed which shows how impressive she is at a young age.      #7 [player_tooltip player_id='21487' first='Layla' last='Sirdah'] (Peachtree Ridge HS, 7A)   Following we have Layla who starts to lean more along the lines of a penalty box forward who loves to be in and around the goal and gets on the end of chances. Layla possesses an array of skills such as a great touch on the ball and the ability to control in tight spaces along with an elite eye for goal and getting chances on target. A true striker she is selfish in front of goal and will often turn a chance that may be lost into a high-quality chance. Not afraid to use her head as well she will make the extra effort to get onto the end of balls and not give defenders a chance to rest. At Peachtree Ridge, she was part of the Varsity team that made a deep playoff run. Layla will be looking to cement herself in the rankings again and have a breakout year in the 2023 season.     #10 [player_tooltip player_id='21835' first='Madeline' last='Stoddard'] (Denmark HS 7A)   Madeline comes in off great starting two years with Denmark HS where she was in the stats putting up a handful of goals and tallying a few assists in both seasons. A different type of striker or hybrid winger she almost always plays off the shoulder of the last defender, she uses her blistering pace to get on the end of through balls and has a high-quality finish on her. Not the tallest but she is much stronger on the ball and her low center of gravity makes it nearly impossible to get the ball off her, especially when she's at full speed. Each time I watched her it seemed she got quicker as the game went on and seemed to never tire. She works hard closing down defenders and doesn't give them a rest. College coaches will start having her on their radar and she'll be looking to have another strong season in 2023.     #14 [player_tooltip player_id='21942' first='Solai' last='Washington'] (Chamblee HS 5A)   Another forward from Chamblee, Solai early in her season operated on the right-hand side as a winger using a great touch on the ball, a nice burst of pace, and the ability to find her teammates. Slowly she started to transform into more of a false 9/striker where she would drop off the defense, right behind the midfield, and pick up the ball on the dribble or look to find her teammates. A rare skill to have and to do so well at a high pace and level allows her to stand out on the field and often creates mismatches and confusion in opposition defensive lines. Her ability to combine her technical ability along with a good strikers instinct in the box. She can play the game at her own pace where she wants to increase the tempo or slow things down. Getting 2 goals and assists last season with Chamblee in the previous season, 2023 will set the stage for her to have a successful season.

With rankings being released from the Class of 2024 we are going to be focusing on the forwards coming out of the class and how they stack up against each other. These girls have set themselves apart from the rest of the class with their prolific and unique attacking talent. Players are nicely spread out through the different high school class divisions through Georgia and going into their junior year are set for big seasons. Only being juniors they still have time to prove themselves and further cement their status in the rankings.