Wednesday, December 27, 2017

LVS Travels West AGAIN; So Cal High School Classic starting this week

In 1999, the Nolan Catholic Women's Program got on the national map by defeating the #1 team in the country and from that year on they put together arguably the strongest schedule in the country each year playing teams from all over the nation.  The summer of 2000 the Lady Vikings were invited to the National High School Coaches Association Championships in Orlando, FL where they were crowned champions with a win over St. Pius X from Georgia.  

Since this national recognition, the Lady Vikings Soccer Program have been heading west during the Christmas Break since 2001 as traveling to Walnut Creek, CA.  In 2001, Nolan Catholic played in a four team round robin showcase hosted by Carondelet Catholic were they also played Santa Margarita Catholic and San Ramon High School.  The very next year they were invited to the Tri-Valley Showcase in Walnut Creek, CA and every year through 2009 they returned.  Taking a break from 2010-2014 and they returned to the Tri-Valley again in 2015. 

With these new relationships and national respect, the Lady Vikings hosted their our own showcase.  The Nolan Showcase was born in 2003 with 4 of the top teams in the country all from North Texas and in just the second year of the Nolan Showcase they doubled in size to 8 teams and had Carondelet Catholic and Santa Margarita Catholic attend.  

Now in the 16th year of the event, it is now a full fledged National event called the National Elite Prep Showcase.   The National Elite Prep Showcase brings together the top high school girls soccer programs from around the country. It is a true college showcase for high school soccer. This is where the best come to play. The battle for #1 starts here. Olympians, National team, college and World Cup superstars, National and State champions have all competed in this event.

"Last year because of conflicts with our final exams and the Tri-Valley Classic dates, we traveled to Santa Barbara to the San Marcos Holiday Classic.  This year we ran into a similar issue with our finals being later and we accepted an invitation to the So Cal HS Showcase in Oceanside, CA," LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald mentioned.

Fitzgerald on the level of high school soccer...
Our players are no strangers to traveling across the country to get in front of college coaches and our program is no different.  We want college coaches to know that high school soccer can produce top level college players.  

There are 4 important aspects of the trip to California…
> Amazing competition
> National Respect
> College exposure
> Key life experiences


This year the Lady Vikings will again play one of the most competitive national schedules with 4 CA teams and 1 FL team on our schedule along with the UIL State Finalist, other public school powerhouses, and then their own strong district schedule.

The Lady Vikings have traveled to California 12 times and 2 times to Orlando.  In those years combined with hosting the National Elite Prep Showcase, the Lady Vikings have played a total of 64 teams from out of state since 2000, more than any team in the country.

The Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer Program takes advantage of tons of resources putting their players in the most challenging environment possible.

The Lady Vikings kick off the So Cal High School Classic with a match against Sage Creek High School from Carlsbad, CA on Wednesday, Dec. 27th at 8:00am PT.  Follow Us on Twitter and Instagram @nolansoccer for LIVE updates.  Also visit www.socalhsclassic.com for tournament information.

No comments: