PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - Southlake Carroll

In with the 17s for World Cup qualifying, then with the 20s, and now with the full team - Southlake Carroll's Monica Alvarado is looking for her first cap with the Mexican National Team. The 17s advanced to the 2008 CONCACAF U17 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago. Alvarado continues to move up the National Team ranks and will use this opportunity not only to secure a spot on the full team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup but also to prepare herself for her freshman year at Mississippi State in the Fall of 2009.

Alvarado is an extremely dynamic central midfielder that has the ability to take over a game adding that extra dimension that is indicative to the success of her team. She helped her Lady Dragons to a 2008 UIL Class 5A State Championship while also guiding her FC Dallas 91 club team to a Southern Regionals championship match before losing out 1-0 to eventual National Champion, Dallas Texans 91 Red. Alvarado is a four-time 5-5A First Team All-District selection and the 2008 Midfielder of the Year for Southlake Carroll High School's Head Coach, Matt Colvin.

Alvarado is one of several players that have participated in the Red Bull Nolan Showcase that has National Team experience.

The Dragons co-host the Red Bull Nolan Showcase with Nolan Catholic High School.

THE BATTLE FOR #1 STARTS JANUARY 2010...

January 7th-9th, 2010 teams will be coming from all over the country to showcase themselves in front of college coaches and to prove they are some of the most competitive teams in the Nation. Red Bull, NIKE, and ESPN Rise will all be involved once again.

The 2010 RED BULL NOLAN SHOWCASE will bring together the top girls high school teams from around the country. Teams from Texas, California, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana will be represented. It is a true college showcase for high school soccer. The Nolan Showcase is touted as the top event for high school soccer in Texas if not in the country. Each year the event features several of the TOP 10 teams in the country. Last year, 8 of the 20 teams in the Invitational Division were ranked nationally in the TOP 30. The Nolan Showcase always helps in producing the Nation’s #1 team. The top players in the country have participated in the event over the past 7 years: Gatordae Player of the Year, US National Team Player, Olympic Gold Medalist, and WPS #1 Draft Pick, Amy Rodriguez (Santa Margarita) and US U-21 National Team Player and UNC’s Jessica Maxwell (Colleyville Heritage). UNC’s Courtney Jones (Monte Vista), the University of Florida’s Jazmyne Avant (Coppell), BYU’s Lauren Anderson (Monte Vista), TCU’s Alex Mechalske (Nolan), Texas’ Kendall Frizzell (Tyler Lee) and University of Kentucky’s Laura Burton (Amador Valley) participated in 08, as well as Notre Dame recruit Jazmine Hall (Marcus). US under-16 National Pool Player, Whitney Jaynes (Plano West) and Lexi Harris (Plano West) were also in attendance. Jaynes and Harris were both headed to New Zealand with the National Team following the event. Youth National Team past participants include Chioma Ubogagu (Coppell) - U17 US National Team Pool, Taylor Schneider (Carroll) - U16 US National Team Pool, Alina Garziamendez (Ursuline) - U17 Mexiacn National Team, and Monica Alvarado (Carroll) - U20 Mexican National Team. Other notable showcase participants were University of Texas standouts Caitlin Kennedy (Colleyville Heritage) and Kendall Campisi (Ursuline), as well as LSU’s Michelle Makasini (Colleyville Heritage), Texas A&M’s Becky Olson (Nolan) University of Virginia’s Caitlin Miskel (St. Thomas Aquinas), Stanford standout Kiki Bosio (Santa Margarita), USC National Champion JJ Johnson (Santa Margarita), and TCU’s Jackie Torda (Nolan).

2010 SHOWCASE DATES

The Red Bull Nolan Showcase Presented by JATO has announced the 2010 dates. The 2010 Showcase will be held on January 7th-9th. This is an INVITATIONAL EVENT. Invitations will be sent out shortly. We added a Platinum Division in 2009 and it was a success and will continue to add teams to that division. If you are interested in our event please email Jay Fitzgerald or call the JATO at 817.460.JATO (5286).