Alex Tay, Zoey Nelson, and Mia Draper Represent Their Countries!

Three Seattle United girl’s players have recently represented their national soccer teams. The accomplishment of a lifetime! 
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Alex Tay of the U19 ECNL team just played in the U-20 Women’s World Cup for the Ghanian team! She started every single game, and played every single minute in the tournament for her nation. Alex talked about how surreal the experience was and how far the game of soccer could take you. Playing against players that you watch on the TV, professionals that play for the biggest clubs in the world and traveling the world! Her favorite part of the experience was Ghana’s final group stage game against New Zealand. To win a World Cup game under the lights! 
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But, there were a lot of challenges that came along with the experience, especially being the youngest member of the team. Alex spoke about how hard it was being apart from her family, she was gone for about 10 weeks! In her times of adversity she expressed how encouraging it was to have the support of her Seattle United teammates back home, she emphasized a really special connection with her teammates “ who are going to do amazing things as players and people.” She also shouted out Coach Brooke and Coach Rich who helped her grow her resilience. Alex already has her eyes on the future with a verbal commitment to play soccer at Stanford University (6th ranked program in the country.) Congratulations to a phenomenal young athlete and person.
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Zoey Nelson, the youngest of the trio, plays for the G10 ECNL team and represents the United States! She was first identified for the US national team at a NW US Soccer U14 ID event in Puyallup and an ECNL showcase. She has since attended two US U14 and one U15 national team camp. She loved the learning experience, all the presentations, and meetings. She felt it really helped her develop a growth mindset to deal with the challenges of such an achievement. She reminisced about not having her parents there, and learning to hold herself to a high standard on her own. 
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She was very thankful to her parents for their constant support and to Seattle United for extra training opportunities. Training with the boys and older girls teams helped her prepare for the national stage.  Zoey is determined to work twice as hard to achieve her ultimate goal of playing professional soccer. With her attitude and determination, the club is excited to watch her on her journey!
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Mia Draper takes us to Europe where she recently represented her nation of Switzerland. The U19 ECNL player just played against Germany in an official FIFA game. Her favorite part of the experience was playing in the game itself, to get to wear the badge of her nation against some of the best young players in all of Europe! Mia spoke on how she attributes a chunk of her success on the ability to receive criticism in a positive light. Putting the work in, taking everything with a grain of salt, and being honest with herself about what she needs to improve. 
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Mia attributed her mentality to her Seattle United teammates. “ The people I’m surrounded with, it’s a super competitive group and our team chemistry is off the charts. It’s a competitive, fun, atmosphere, that’s insanely supportive. It’s a place where everyone wants to see each other achieve their goals.” Mia is already committed to play soccer at the University of Montana and looks forward to representing her nation again! 
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Congratulations again to Alex Tay, Zoey Nelson, and Mia Draper, amazing role models for Seattle United’s next generation of young players! 

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