CALLING THE SHOTS:

Every once in a while a sports story comes along and reminds us about the purity of sports and why people love them so much.

Nearly six years ago, I met Elizabeth Eddy and her story did that for me.

Standing along the sideline of a Newport-Mesa Junior All-American football game, I remember watching and thinking, “That’s a girl?”

Eddy, then 11 years old, played running back for the Seahawks back then and she did more than just hold her own. She broke tackles, spun away from defenders and stutter-stepped past boys almost twice her size on her way to long touchdown runs. She became the first girl in the clinic league’s history to score a touchdown after her 50-yard run Sept. 7, 2002.

If you visit my blog, you can read the story at www.dailypilot.com/dailyblogger/svirgen.

These days Eddy no longer plays football, but instead excels in futbol. This week, the Newport Harbor High junior-to-be will be playing with the So Cal Blues. That’s the club soccer team trying to repeat at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in North Little Rock, Ark.

The tournament starts today and ends Sunday. Last year, Eddy was on the So Cal Blues team that won the under-15 girls’ title. This year, the Blues, from San Juan Capistrano, are aiming for the under-16 girls’ championship.

“We are really excited to go back-to-back,” said Eddy, a center midfielder who also dabbles as a forward for the Blues. “Our team really wants to win it.”

Then she said, “Can I just say something else, Steve? I’m excited to play for God’s glory.”

Eddy’s hoping to take that statement all the way to the 2012 Olympics. That’s her goal, she said, not her dream, but her goal.

For now she’s just thinking about winning in Arkansas. Then it’s on to prepare for the season at Newport Harbor, while trying to find the college to play at.

If she does eventually make it to the Olympics, she’ll have those days of playing football against the boys to credit.

Eddy says she still reads that story from time to time. She read it recently, the story that’s framed in glass.

“I was so little back then,” said Eddy, who earned first-team All-Sunset League honors in her first season with the Sailors girls’ soccer team this past year. “But I loved it. I was glad I did it. It made me tougher.”

Eddy’s not the only local playing in the national championships this week. Her Newport Harbor teammate, Gillian Hogan, who will be a junior, is also on the So Cal Blues girls’ under-15 team.

Slammers Futbol Club, a Newport-Beach-based program headed by former Corona del Mar coaches Walid and Ziad Khoury, will have three teams playing in Arkansas. The three teams won U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV titles last month in Hawaii.

The Corona del Mar High incoming-sophomore quartet of Scarlett Fallon, Jordan Dillion, Lindsey Luke and Tessa Andujar will try to help the Slammers girls’ under-15 team redeem itself from last year’s overtime loss for the under-14 championship. Renee Mendiola of Newport Beach is also on that team.

Taylor Fallon, a former CdM standout, is on the girls’ under-19 team and the Slammers also have a team in the girls’ under-17 division.

Also, So Cal Blues Coach Randy Dodge, the coach of the Vanguard University men’s and women’s teams, has his team vying for the girls’ under-15 title.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].