The Minnesota Thunder Academy has a very nice article spotlighting top talent, 13 year old Lauren Miller. What makes Miller special? Just about everything according to Mark Cook who is currently her coach with the Thunder U15G MTA Elite 94 Blue team where she plays up two age levels and still excels.
“We know how powerful an individual player she can be,” said Cook. “We’re talking with her this year about making her teammates better, about how she can create opportunities for the team.”
MTA Director, Mark Abboud, has plenty of experience working with talented young ladies. “I’ve had the privilege of seeing and working with youth National Team players Caroline Smith (ODP), Catie Sessions (Woodbury), and Olivia Schultz (Bangu Tsunami FC) when they were Millie’s age,” said Abboud. “The three of them developed into terrific players in their own right, but I think Millie has demonstrated a rare combination of silky smooth talent, instinctual tactical sense, and intense drive to go even further than her predecessors in this sport.”
Miller just returned to Minnesota after back to back weekends of top level MTA soccer. The first weekend saw Miller help her team to the win the Championship of the Predator Flight at Disney’s Girls Soccer Showcase in Orlando, FL. She scored the winning goal in overtime of the final match to bring home the hardware for the MTA Elite 94 Blues. The following weekend saw her turn NCAA Division I coaches heads at the Toro SC College Showcase in Lincoln, NE, many of whom put calls in to MTA Directors verifying that her date of birth listed was not a typo.
Miller has already racked up a list of accomplishments, all which can be seen by going to the full MTA article.