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February 24, 2005

Amy Rodriguez named as 2004 Gatorade National High School Girls Soccer Player of the Year

She attends Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California and plays club soccer for the Laguna Hills Eclipse.

The award recognizes athletic and academic achievement plus the overall character of its recipient, and she was selected from more than 300,000 players nationwide placing her also as a finalist in the Gatorade High School Athlete of the year Award.

One year ago she was playing with the U.S. U-17 National Team, was chosen for the U.S. U-19 National Team for the FIFA World Championship and scored in her first game in Thailand. She recently took part of the U.S. U-21 National Team camp and was added to the roster the U.S. National Team  for the Algarve Cup last week. The youngest player in the team she joins former Gatorade National Girls Soccer Players of the Year Aly Wagner, Christie Welsh, Jill Oakes and Heather O’Reilly in Portugal.

“ It has been a crazy year, but I’ve had so much fun,” said Rodriguez. “I want to thank Gatorade for choosing me because I know there are so many talented girls out there all over the country. One of my main goals is just to keep working hard so I can take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that have been given to me recently. I want to continue to build as a player because I know there are so many areas I can improve. I’ve gotten great support from family, friends, teammates and coaches and every time I go out on the field, I take a little bit of them with me.”