The 2021 Catoosa-Walker County Soccer Players of the Year
Brooke Fairchild
The 2021 season was a historic one for the Heritage Lady Generals on the soccer pitch, but it also might have offered a glimpse of things to come.
Despite having just one senior on the roster, Heritage defied its youth and made a run all the way to the Class AAAA state semifinals for just the second time in school history and for the first time since 2013.
And sophomore Brooke Fairchild was one of the reasons why.
In a season that included several worthy candidates from all three Catoosa County teams — all of which qualified for the girls’ state playoffs for the first time since 2015 — Fairchild led her team and the county in both goals and assists and, today, is being named as the Girls’ Player of the Year for Catoosa County soccer in 2021.
“I think it’s really cool and I’m honored,” she said. “I’ve worked really hard throughout all my years playing to grow as a player and I think I really have.”
Fairchild began her soccer career around the age of four and has continued it through several club teams, including Chattanooga FC Academy and the Nomads from Hixson, Tenn. She currently plays for the Dalton Belles.
On a Heritage team that had six players score five or
more goals during their 15-5 campaign this past spring, the striker led the Navyand-Red with 14 goals and 10 assists. She was one of four Lady Generals to earn first team All-Region status in 7-AAAA, while four more of her teammates made the second team.
“I felt like we had a great year,” she continued. “For
the second time in school history, we got to the Final Four and I felt like the team worked really well together. We were really able to connect and we really showed what soccer is about, which is (being) a team sport and being able to pass to each other.
Needing a win at Rockmart on April 13 to try and keep their state playoff hopes alive, Galicia delivered one of the most incredible nights for any player in LFO soccer history. He knocked home seven goals and picked up three assists as the Warriors blasted the Jackets, 13-3.
“I don’t know,” he said as a smile crept across his face. “I was just feeling it that game.”
He would end the season with 42 total points on 24 goals and 18 assists and earned himself an invite to the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association’s Junior All-Star Game in Macon in mid-June.
“I got kind of injured, but I still enjoyed it,” he said of the event. “It was a great experience to play against players that make you better every game.”
“I had a good year,” he added. “I always have good motivation because my brother (Israel, who graduated from LFO in 2020) pushing me up every year. His numbers in high school makes me want to beat him every year.”
While the younger Galicia said he will continue to look toward his older brother for individual motivation, he said he will go into the 2022 season very determined to take his team to a place it hasn’t been in a long time.
“I want to take our team to the state playoffs,” he said. “It’s been more than 10 years since our school made it, so I just want to do it.”
Galicia, who also plays club soccer with the Chattanooga Red Wolves organization, is also entertaining college offers, but said he has yet to make a decision on where he will continue his playing career.
“I’m just trying to look at the best (situation) for me,” he added, “sports and academically too.”