Avery Yagle took the road less traveled.
By choice, Yagle stepped away from high school soccer competition during her junior year at Redwood, enrolling at Visalia Charter Independent Study, opting for a more flexible education schedule.
Why?
To concentrate on club soccer and pursue a dream.
The big-picture goal was to travel with her club team, play against higher-level squads, get noticed by college programs, and potentially land a scholarship offer at an NCAA Division I college.
That meant Yagle didn’t get the normal routine as a traditional high school student, like waking up at home daily, eating breakfast, then getting dropped off at school, hanging out with classmates, and by the afternoon, practicing with her lifelong friends.
Instead, Yagle occasionally made the three-hour drive to San Jose to play with the Bay Area Surf Soccer Club — an elite youth program billed as the “Bay Area’s most complete soccer academy for boys and girls.”
There, she traveled across the country, displaying her talents in front of college scouts at some of the nation’s most prestigious soccer showcases.
“It was kind of difficult because I liked playing for Redwood, but I think it was a good decision because I got to commit to colleges,” Yagle said. “That’s the main reason I didn’t play last year. It’s nice being back this year.”
It’s worked out for Yagle.
Last summer, Yagle competed at a showcase in North Carolina.
There, she caught the attention of Middle Tennessee State University coaches, and they invited her out to a visit at the Murfreesboro campus, where she picked up an offer from the Conference USA school.
In November, Yagle officially signed to play for the Blue Raiders in Tennessee.
After her signing, Middle Tennessee State head coach Aston Rhoden raved about the 5-foot-8 Yagle.
“Avery is a natural goal scorer with great composure in and around the box,” Rhoden said. “She’s strong on the ball and able to create scoring chances for her teammates. Her versatility as an attacking player will enable us to be more flexible in attack.”
Yagle has brought that to Redwood this season.
A contributing varsity player as a freshman and sophomore, the Rangers striker entered her senior year with 20 career goals in a Redwood uniform.
Today, Yagle has already surpassed that goal total and is Redwood’s leading goal scorer despite not even taking the pitch last winter with the Rangers.
In 22 matches this season, Yagle has scored 31 goals, averaging 1.4 goals per match. She’s had nine games in which she’s produced multi-goal performances, including four hat tricks.
In back-to-back wins over Porterville and Monache in late January, she bagged three goals each to help the Rangers capture their fourth straight East Yosemite League championship.
Yagle has scored at least one goal in 17 of the Rangers’ 22 games.
As of Feb. 5, that has catapulted Redwood to a 20-1-1 overall record and a perfect 9-0 mark in EYL play.
“She’s a force of nature,” Redwood head coach Jason Vieira said. “One of the things about teams we’ve had in the past, we haven’t had a lot of size, and Avery gives us that. She works well up top.
“She’s been fantastic. It’s been great to have her back. I’m thankful that she decided to play high school soccer her senior year.”
Yagle is one of the reasons why Redwood is a legitimate contender to win the Central Section Division I championship.
Yagle headlines a Redwood squad that is averaging 4.7 goals per match. The Rangers have outscored their foes this season a combined 104-11.
In Redwood’s 8-0 rout of Golden West on Feb. 4, Yagle became just the sixth player since 2011 to achieve 50 career goals, joining sophomore Miranda Jimenez (51 goals) and former standouts Brooke Crisp (102), Evan House (77), Maddy Messier (76) and Jayme Gomez (58) in that exclusive club.
“It’s been very nice,” Yagle said. “I feel like our team chemistry this year has been better than previous years just because we’re all just so close. I know all the seniors since I was like 8 years old.”
How has Yagle gone from independent study to leading goal scorer?
“Honestly, just confidence,” Yagle said. “Knowing that I’m a committed player and just playing to my full potential.”
Did playing at the club level help?
“I feel like it definitely has just because, at Surf, it was very intense practices,” Yagle said. “I picked up really good habits. I’ve been able to bring that to high school here. That’s helped me.”
Redwood has three players who can find the back of the net at any moment.
Yagle leads that attack with 31 goals. Ortiz, who was the Rangers’ top goal-scorer last season with 30 strikes, has 21 tallies as a sophomore. Senior winger Graycie Serpa, who is one of the Central Section’s fastest student-athletes, has accounted for 33 goals, blasting 17 goals herself while adding 16 assists.
In track, Serpa won the 400-meter individual title at last year’s Central Section Division I Championship meet. She advanced to the CIF State championships in the same event and finished 10th with a personal-record time of 55.27 seconds.
Yagle, Ortiz and Serpa have combined for 69 of the team’s 102 goals.
“I think everyone on the team is very hungry, especially me,” Yagle said. “I really want that ring. To be able to do it our senior year and go out with a bang, that would be really awesome.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: From independent study to leading goal scorer: The rise of Avery Yagle
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
