SF Elite Girls Academy Showcase Standouts

This article was originally published by PrepSoccer staff writer, Matt Smith, on the PrepSoccer website. Matt Smith is a special news and communications correspondent with SF Elite Academy and will providing viewers with an inside look into SF Elite and what makes our club so special. 
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San Francisco Elite Academy had three girls teams play in the Girls Academy Summer Showcase in Oceanside, Calif., an event that took place June 23-28 with all three teams showing well.

The 2005 girls team played in the top Showcase bracket, essentially the bracket just below the GA playoffs, and won that bracket, while the 2006 girls finished fifth in their bracket and the 2007 girls finished third in their bracket.
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Each team had players who stood out and impressed over the six-day event.​

SFEA 2005 Girls
The 2005’s finished atop the Showcase No. 1 bracket, winning their first two matches and drawing in their final match to finish with seven points. They beat Sporting Delaware and SC Del Sole (AZ) by 1-0 scorelines, and then drew 2-2 with Beadling SC (PA).

Cami Colpitts | Attacking Midfielder
Colpitts is a standout for SFEA, having debuted for the Canadian U17 team, and stood out in Oceanside. Colpitts mostly featured as an attacking midfielder, but played some up top. She was great in 1v1 situations, as she was really hard to deal with. She scored a cracking goal against Beadling SC, spinning her defender at the top of the box and scoring on a left-footed shot. She nearly scored the game-winner as well.

Grace Couden | Holding Midfielder
Couden sat in as the single No. 6, as the 2005’s play a 4-3-3, and did a great job of screening the ball from attackers and protecting her center backs. She was also excellent in connecting between the defense and the attack while in possession, switched the ball very well and created a lot of attacking opportunities for the attacking players.

Keeley Grove | Forward
Grove is a really, really strong and fast forward who generally plays the No. 7 spot. She plays very direct and has the speed to get around outside backs. She scored a goal in the match against SC Del Sol and was really good in 1v1 situations, finding a way in between defenders, and she also put in a lot of great crosses.

Mia Hironaka, Noa Marks, Jojo Meade, Sofia Terry | Defenders
The entire back four for the SFEA 2005’s deserves a mention as they were just solid, keeping two clean sheets and only allowing two goals in three matches. They stayed organized, they stayed composed and showed the solid defensive and tactical skills that make them the players that they are.

Sydni Yoshida | Forward/Attacking Midfielder
Yoshida is a super composed finisher who scored two goals as cool as you would like to see an attacking player score. She scored in game one against Sporting Delaware for the winner and one of the two goals in the third match against Beadling SC. She is a complete player. She is fast, strong, can turn quickly, use both feet, and her technical ability is very good to where the game slows down for her in the box.

SFEA 2006 Girls
The SFEA girls finished fifth in their bracket, which was the Showcase #2 bracket, wrapping up their showing on Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to Cedar Stars (NJ). In their first match they lost to Baltimore Armour Academy (MD) 4-2, beating Beadling SC (PA) in the middle match, winning 3-1.

Reese Bassuk | Forward
Bassuck is a very tall player, who has played mostly in the midfield but can be a great hold up striker and also can play very well on the wing. She has long strides and she can get in behind defenders, and in addition she has good technical ability as she scored a goal over the weekend.

Isabelle Bernal | Midfielder
Bernal played in the midfield, shifting between the No. 6 and the No. 10, and she moved the ball well, played excellent diagonal balls as she showed off perhaps her biggest strength which is her tremendous passing range.

Ariel Fu-Chen | Defensive Midfielder
Fu-Chen is a very smooth player, technically speaking and played a very, very clean tournament as a defensive midfielder. She can turn either way and by doing so, can release either outside back or connect a pass to either forward on the outside.

Alicia Jovero | Central Defender/Outside Defender
Jover, an outside back for the most part, filled in at center back for the first game of the tournament, then moved back outside. She is a very tough competitor, the type of player who will give you 100 percent effort even when she isn’t feeling 100 percent. She can play in any system and is a very reliable player.

2007 SFEA Girls
The 2007 girls played in Showcase No. 7, finishing third after a win and two draws. They started with a 2-2 draw with Sockers FC (IL) and a 3-3 draw with Metro United (VA). They ended well with a 3-1 win over AUFC Timbers & Thorns (NM).

Ava Bowles | Central Midfielder
Bowles was very steady in the midfield, scoring a good goal in the 2-2 draw with Sockers FC. She was very solid in all aspects of the game, she did everything well, including defensively tracking back, her positioning was great and she was excellent at picking a pass.

Josie Fineberg | Forward
Fineberg, who can play on the outside, up top or as an attacking midfielder, was a handful for the entire showcase, putting pressure on defenses by running at defenders and putting balls in the box from the center of the pitch, from the outside and from up top. On day three, she nutmegged a defender inside the area, got dragged down and converted the penalty for the go-ahead goal.

Clodagh McIntyre | Midfield/Outside Defender
McIntyre is a 2008 player, who plays up on the 2007 team. She scored both equalizers in the first two matches of this Showcase, and also showed her versatility by playing as an outside right back against Metro United and pushing up the pitch.

Naomi Mendez | Outside Defender
Mendez is a very, very tough player who played as the left outside back during the Showcase. She is a strong, physical player who is very fit and runs hard. She would consistently win the ball over the weekend, pick a pass and then push up the pitch to advance the attack.

Tessa Morris | Central Defender
Morris is a very solid defender who played every single minute of this Showcase. She organizes the back four very well, she proved to be very hard to get in behind of as she offered a classically solid center back performance. She is a player that does everything well and correctly. She reads the game and doesn’t make mistakes.

Victoria Nealy | Keeper
Nealy was very busy at the GA Showcase, playing in six matches as she moved up and also played for the 2006 team. She made nearly 25 saves, and proved to be strong coming off of her line. She was very reactive and impressed the USWNT scouts who came to see her twice.