With National Signing Day 2017 just around the corner, FCDallas.com will be taking a look at just a few of the 50+ FCD Youth players committing to colleges around the country
FRISCO - FC Dallas ’99 ENCL captain Emily Sample’s commitment to Pepperdine University is about a picturesque as the school itself.
Located along the Pacific Coast with a soccer training facility that overlooks the water, Pepperdine was the dream school for Sample. And she was their dream recruit as the school looks to expand their recruiting pool outside of California and into the soccer hotbed that is North Texas for the first time.
“That was her dream school. And it's rare that is happens that not only their you're number one, but you're their number one as well,” head coach Matt Grubb said. “For her to get out to the one school that she really, really wanted to go to for me is the ultimate pride for our club and for me as a coach.”
“Ultimately I fell in love with Pepperdine because of the school itself. It's such a beautiful campus and being right by the ocean, you can't beat the view,” the Plano-native said. “The coaches, the environment that they've created for their team and at their school is something that I definitely wanted to be a part of.”
Sample has played for FC Dallas since the second grade, and has only ever known Grubb as her club coach. For the last several years, she’s been the captain of the her ECNL team - leading the way both on and off the field.
“He's always had faith in me and pushed me to be the best that I can be and he just - we have a good relationship, him and our family and playing for a coach for that long,” she said. “I feel like I have grown so much as a player and as a person with him as my coach.”
“She's a captain not only because of her leadership skills, but also her ability to impact the game. She plays on the back line and she organizes everything in front of her, she's a monster in the air and she sets the tone physically,” Grubb said of his long-time player. “She really makes the team around her better, not only through her criticisms in a positive way, but also through her hard work and dedication and expectations for herself.”
Pepperdine is now hoping she can continue lead the way for recruits from the Dallas area, as they continue to evolve in a heavy-hitter West coast college soccer scene - regularly facing the likes of UCLA, Stanford and Cal.
“[Head coach Tim Ward] said he wanted to open the floodgates for FC Dallas and the Dallas area for them in California,” Sample said. “The girls that come out of the Dallas area especially and the girls that we have on our team are some of the best players in the area and it's really awesome to play with them. I cannot wait to see what success comes for all of my teammates and all of the girls we play against.”