San Francisco Elite Academy's College Pathway continues to be an amazing resource for players in the club, and for a player like Allie Willis, it will prove invaluable.
The 2008 Girls Academy player may only be 14, and she may not have even started her freshman year of high school yet, but she already knows what her goal is in terms of playing soccer.
"The goal is to play college soccer," Willis said.
Willis is also very academically driven, so finding a balance between a good academic school and a good soccer program will be important when the time comes.
However, that is years away and she is currently finishing up at Kittredge School, and has been working on her applications to high schools in San Francisco.
Willis started playing recreationally when she was five years old, and joined her first club at eight years old when living in Sacramento. She played for Sac United for a year before relocating to San Francisco.
In 2016 she joined the Vikings program, and shortly after she and many of her teammates found San Francisco Elite and have not looked back.
"I am very glad I found San Francisco Elite," Willis said. "The coaches are great, they push you to improve, they give really good feedback and my teammates really encourage me. It's a great environment to grow in."
Her current coach is Chance Daniel, who has worked very hard with Willis to help her improve.
"He's a great coach," Willis said. "He's been coaching our team for several years now and he's helped me grow. He gives me constructive criticism and shows me videos that will help me improve as a defensive central midfielder."
He's also shared with her some players she should watch, and one that has really stood out in terms of how to control the midfield is Manchester City and Belgium international Kevin de Bruyne.
Willis also really enjoys watching the US Women's National Team, and really enjoyed watching Megan Rapinoe.
"She's good on the ball, but what I really like is that she has a strong personality," Willis said. "She stood up for women's rights when her team was paid unfairly and I really admire her for that."
In terms of what Willis does well, she has a good understanding of her own game. She believes opposing coaches would say she scans the field well and is a good passer and connects play well. She believes her communication is where she needs to improve.
She believes her teammates would say a lot of the same things, especially that she connects play very well, connecting 1-2 passes and playing the ball well into space. They would also say she's a good teammate.
"Allie has a lot of tools to be a really good defensive midfielder and distributor," Daniel said. "She's a younger 08, right on the cusp of maturing into her potential as she goes into high school."