Photo: Southside High School senior Anna Motely recently signed a soccer scholarship with ASA College in Miami, Fla. Pictured, from left: Anna’s mom Christy, Anna, Anna’s dad Rodney, SHS girls soccer coach Tiffany Cargill. (Gary Wells)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Anna Motley is headed to south Florida for her college soccer career.
The Southside High school senior signed a scholarship on Apr. 3 with ASA College in Miami.
As a three-year starter on defense for the Lady Panthers, Motley has helped the team to the state playoffs the past three seasons. Southside finished as the Class 6A state runner-up in 2017 and made the state semifinals last year, where the Lady Panthers lost in a double overtime shootout to Gardendale.
“It’s been a dream to play college soccer my while life, so I’m very excited,” said Motley, who plans on majoring in criminology. “I’m glad that all my coaches believed in me and pushed me hard and made me work to get to this point. I’m looking forward to playing soccer with a new group, especially with some girls who are from other countries. It definitely will be a challenge and intensity will be at another level.”
So far this season, Motley has helped Southside to an 11-2 record that includes an impressive nine shutouts. In their 11 victories to date, the Lady Panthers have outscored the opposition 81 to 0.
“It’s been a blessing to play with this group of girls,” she said. “We made history in 10th grade when we made it to the state championship game, and it felt amazing. Hopefully, we’ll get the [championship] ring this year.”
SHS girls soccer coach Tiffany Cargill noted that Motely has made a major impact in the program in her three years on the backline.
“We’re very excited for Anna to be playing at the next level,” said. “Her drive to succeed and has made it a pleasure to be her coach. For the past three years, her defensive presence and her ability to communicate has played a vital role in our success and brought stability to our program. Anna’s very coachable and a really good athlete and I feel that I can trust her. When she executes her defensive strategies, it blows my mind, and it will only get better for her at the next level. We’ve got a number of girls who are very, very talented, so for Anna to be able to play at ASA College is a big deal.”