Pugh not going pro, despite the rumors
Mountain Vista star opts to attend UCLA
It was a milestone that fell short of reality. Despite speculation she would be the first American woman to skip collegiate soccer and head straight to the National Women’s Soccer League, it was far from a done deal for Mallory Pugh.
After numerous reports online said U.S. Soccer’s 2015 young player of the year was bypassing her collegiate career to sign a full-time professional contract with the NWSL, the Mountain Vista/Real Colorado standout’s father, Horace Pugh, confirmed to The Denver Post on Wednesday that she will be attending UCLA this upcoming fall on a full scholarship.
“We did look at her possibly going pro,” Horace Pugh told The Denver Post. “It’s all over the Internet she’s going to play professionally. It was very close to happening, but her gut feeling was that she wanted to go to college.”
The nation’s top soccer recruit in 2016 might have been allocated to the NWSL’s Portland Thorns FC. The Thorns acquired the No. 1 pick in a new “unattached subsidized individual” system in exchange for the No. 3 draft selection in the 2016 NWSL college draft.
“People made speculation out of Portland getting rid of this draft pick to be in the position to take the first allocated player, who would have been Mallory,” Horace Pugh said. “People in the industry put two and two together, but nothing formally was out there. We never talked to (Portland) coaches, general manger, organization or anyone.”
The only time Horace Pugh spoke with Portland is when he told the team Mallory wasn’t going pro.
The 17-year-old was one of 26 players called to the first senior U.S. women’s national team training camp of 2016 by coach Jill Ellis. Pugh has been at the pre-Olympic-qualifying training camp in California that opened Jan. 5, and could possibly make her national team debut Saturday against the Republic of Ireland at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Eighteen players will suit up against Ireland, and Ellis will name the roster for the 2016 CONCACAF (Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship after the match.
The 5-foot-4 forward turns 18 on April 29. She recently captained the U-20’s to a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup berth and CONCACAF title at the qualifying tournament in Honduras, where she earned the Golden Ball (best player) and Golden Boot (top goal scorer) awards.
“It’s kind of hard when you’re sitting there with Hope Solo and Tobin Heath and all the other girls on the national team and they’re all playing pro,” Horace Pugh said. “But Mallory wanted college, and she held strong to that.”
The reigning 2015 Gatorade Colorado and national girls soccer player of the year is age-eligible for the 2016 and 2018 U-20 World Cup. Whether Pugh plays for Mountain Vista’s team in the spring depends on where she is at with her national soccer career.