Ellie Arnold loves to go to the beach, and a family trip to Montana a few years ago allowed her to take in the majestic Rocky Mountains while enjoying the crisp and cool air.
But the Kiski Area sophomore and multisport standout’s travel this week is international as she represents the United States with the Olympic Development Program’s National Select U16 Girls Soccer Team at the IberCup Elite in Cascais, Portugal.
Arnold, also a member of the Beadling club program, is the only girl from Western Pennsylvania to earn this national recognition on the ODP National Select Teams. She joins Bethel Park’s Henry Watersram and North Allegheny’s Owen Ferguson, who also were selected from PA West Soccer.
“This is such a great opportunity in my soccer career,” Arnold said. “I am honored to represent the U.S. Not everybody has the chance to do this, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Arnold’s journey to Portugal started as a member of a pool of players hoping to make the Pennsylvania state team.
Her selection to the state team afforded her six weeks of training in the winter and six more weeks in the spring.
She then traveled with the Pennsylvania team last June to a regional competition against ODP teams from states such as Maryland and Virginia in the East region. Scouts kept a watchful eye over each player during the games and recruited Arnold and others for a regional camp with games and training in early July.
From there, Arnold was selected to an East regional team to go to a camp and compete, again in front of scouts and national team coaches, in January against players on South, Midwest and West region teams.
Arnold’s talents again impressed the scouts and coaches, and she was lifted to a position on the national team for travel to Portugal.
“That whole journey over the past year or so has just been so awesome,” said Arnold, whose exposure is a big step forward for future opportunities with Division I schools, domestic and international pro leagues, and the Olympics.
“The state team is always so fun, and it is great training. It is such a positive atmosphere at the camps, and the talent at regionals was amazing. I had a goal to get to the national team, and I knew how much hard work I needed to put in. It’s been a fantastic year, and it keeps getting better.”
Arnold arrived in Portugal on Monday and got up to speed with her coaches and her new teammates from all over the country she had competed against in January. She flew from Tennessee where she competed in a weekend tournament with Beadling.
“When the original (national team) list came out, I didn’t know anyone, but when the official list for who was coming to Portugal came out, the East region goalie and another East region player ended up making it,” Arnold said.
“It was great to know a couple of the players and be reunited with them.”
Training on Tuesday leads into games over the next couple of days against U16 girls teams representing England’s Manchester City, Germany’s FC Bayern and Japan’s RB Omiya Ardija.
Training with the national team in Portugal continues into the weekend. She is being coached by one of the legends in the sport.
Kerri Michel Hanks Petersen played at Notre Dame and is one of the most decorated collegiate players in history. She played internationally on three age-group national teams and also professionally from 2006 to 2010 before coaching full time.
Arnold, a sophomore at Kiski Area, said she took care of academic responsibilities before she left for Tennessee and Portugal, but she knows that school will be wild next week as she settles back into her daily routine.
“Time management has always been an important thing for me with balancing sports and my schoolwork,” she said.
“It’s not stressful anymore because I’ve been through it so often.”
Arnold also is in the early stages of her track and field season where she is one of Kiski Area’s top girls sprinters. Up next for Arnold and the rest of the Kiski Area track and field teams is the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational on Saturday at Hempfield High School.
Arnold is an athlete for all seasons, and she has excelled on the soccer pitch for the Cavaliers.
She scored 21 goals this past fall to lead the team. Kiski Area finished 8-7 overall and went 8-4 in Section 4-3A.
Arnold scored five goals in a 6-3 early-season victory over Elizabeth Forward.
“It’s just about having fun, and I think that is a big reason why I was able to play so well,” she said.
The Cavaliers earned the No. 12 seed for the WPIAL playoffs and took No. 5 Mars to the limit before falling 1-0 in the first round.
Arnold capped the season with second-team Valley News Dispatch all-star recognition, and the midfielder/forward also was selected all-WPIAL for Class 3A.
“Last fall was something else,” Arnold said. “The team really meshed so well. We had a really good season and accomplished a lot of our goals. It was awful to lose to Mars, 1-0, knowing how well we played in that game. But those things will happen. The season overall was something that I never want to forget.”
Arnold, also an accomplished gymnast, is a member of Ultimate Gymnastics in Delmont.
While representing Kiski Area as a freshman, Arnold captured WPIAL all-around gold in the Intermediate II Division at the championships at Moon High School.
She finished first on the vault with a mark of 9.15, second on the balance beam (8.8) and wound up with a 34.0-point total.
Arnold continued to represent Kiski Area in gymnastics this winter, but she didn’t return to WPIALs while focusing on her soccer opportunities.