Alex Reckas, 12, was recently selected to the District II soccer team for the Olympic Development Program. Reckas is the first female from the San Benito Youth Soccer League to accomplish this feat.
Alex Reckas, right, was selected to the District II team of the Olympic Development Program for girls soccer recently. Reckas, 12, an incoming seventh-grader at the Sacred Heart Parish School, is the first female soccer player from the San Benito Youth Soccer League to be selected. The SBYSL includes Hollister, Aromas and San Juan Bautista. Reckas will try out for the state ODP team in November.
Before they even announced who made the Olympic Development Program's District II squad, a team that was whittled from approximately 110 of the area's finest soccer players down to a select 20, Hollister's Alexandria Reckas was already feeling the heat.
An incoming seventh-grader at the Sacred Heart Parish School, Reckas was battling a 103-degree temperature on just the second day of tryouts, not to mention other top footballers from Los Gatos, Mountain View, Santa Clara and Burlingame, among other cities.
"The tryouts were pretty hard," Reckas said. "But I still played ... I didn't feel too good with the temperature. I was actually sort of worried with how I was doing, but I still wanted to play."
Despite the adverse conditions, Reckas persevered in the end and was named to the elite 20-member District II ODP team, which will now play other district teams from Northern California before a state team is selected.
As a member of the Hollister United U12 Girls Class I squad, though, Reckas is also the first female from the San Benito Youth Soccer League to accomplish this lofty feat.
"I tried my best," Reckas added, "and I was surprised I made it."
ODP develops soccer talent by identifying the top players on a state level through a series of tryouts where players are selected based on technique, tactics, ability and attitude. Players are recognized on a yearly basis, and continually groomed for the improved success of the U.S. National Team.
Reckas, 12, who plays at both the center midfield and striker positions (she's been the leading scorer on her team the last four seasons), started tryouts in June with more than 100 others. After a four-day, two-weekend tryout narrowed the field to 32, known as the ODP Summer Pool, the field was then cut to 20.
"We've had more girls that have made it (to the top 32), but we haven't had anyone make it to the top 20," said Reckas' father, Ted, who also coaches the Hollister United 12U team. "It's not easy to get there. You compete against some of the best kids out there, some great talent."
With two scheduled "play dates" set for Sept. 14 and Oct. 12 - when the District II team will clash with other districts from Northern California before an all-encompassing state team will be selected in November - Reckas is currently practicing four to five days a week in preparation, a far cry from the self-described "inconsistent" practice schedule she had when she first started playing the game as a four-year-old.
"It is my favorite sport," Reckas said. "I liked it when I first started it, but I wasn't into it as much as I am now.
"When I was getting near Class I, the higher division, I was then working up to ODP."
Reckas has also been practicing with Art Welch, a two-time national soccer player from Jamaica and a former member of the original San Jose Earthquakes, which were part of the North American Soccer League.
Reckas is also one of eight soccer players from the SBYSL currently involved with the ODP. Nicole Yost, Tori Perez, Hannah Press, Jahkya Turiello, Manuel Benavides, Martin Navarro and Luis Gonzalez are all currently competing in the top-32 ODP Summer Pool. Top 20 cuts will be announced later this month.
Carlos Moreno, president of the SBYSL, has seen Reckas play and said he wasn't shocked at all when he heard of the news.
"It would have been a shock if she didn't make it," Moreno said. "She has a lot of skills that not a lot of players have ... She can execute pretty much any move that you've seen. For her age, that's very unusual."
Reckas' inclusion on the ODP District II team is also opening doors for the soccer striker, as she was a guest player on PAC United out of San Jose - the No. 2 ranked team in Northern California, Ted said - and was able to compete in the San Ramon Valley Cup, the California Cup and the elite San Diego Surf Cup.
Noticing the SBYSL as one of the smaller leagues in District II, Ted added, "When you get a player coming out of our town, it's pretty big."
Reckas will now gear up for the play-dates, which will be held at the Morgan Hill Soccer Complex in September and October.
"I think I'll do pretty good," a hopeful Reckas said on being selected for the state team in November. "Personally, I think I'm doing pretty well. I think I have an okay chance."
Hopefully, she won't be feeling the heat as much this time, from anyone or anything.
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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Best in the bus business, again
