A few eyebrows were raised when Ashley Rape wasn't the leading scorer for her high school team this year.
The Dallas-area standout is known as one of the best players in the country, helping her then-Dallas Texans club team to a national runner-up performance at the U17 age group last summer, landing a scholarship with ACC-power Duke University and being a frequent callup to various U.S. Youth National Teams as a defender, including most recently with the U18 WNT that is competing in Spain this month.
Still, Ashley wasn't at the top of the goals column for her Greenhill School team, and yet she couldn't have been happier about it.
It was Ashley's younger sister Avery who banged in 21 goals for the year to take the honor. While Ashley's 19 goals and a team-leading assist total were also impressive, it may have marked a certain coming of age for the younger sibling.
The girls' mother, Deborah Schrier-Rape, notes the two are distinct in a number of ways, but also sees some similarities in their respective paths through the elite youth soccer world.
"Ashley, interestingly, was incredibly quiet, really shy and reserved . When she played on her first soccer team, she was the only girl, but when she got on the field this little girl was just a tiger. It showed us a whole different side of Ashley that really came out," Deborah said. "Things sort of developed after she went Select. She was the onle who actually made the decision to move to the next level when she was a U14. She had been swimming competitively as well and was pretty successful, but when she moved from Sting to Texans and then she quit swimming, she said "This is what I want to do.
"Avery (finishing her sophomore year of high school) has come into her own more the last year and a half. I think high school has helped her do that," Deborah added. "Of course she has her own personality. Avery is never not smiling. If she gets knocked down, if she gets a yellow card, if (coach) Kenny (Medina) is screaming at her, she'll still be smiling. So she brings her own special parts. In fairness, Avery didn't make the sacrifices earlier that Ashley has made. Ashley has an unparalleled work ethic, but now– Avery has really ratcheted her work ethic up of her own accord.
Deborah acknowledges that parenting daughters taking somewhat distinct paths in the athletic world can call for some sensitivity, but also favors taking a more direct approach with each, and this seems to have resulted in the two being up front about strengths and weaknesses, without losing any sense of fandom or support for one another.
"She is very aggressive. She works harder than anyone else on the field," Ashley said of Avery. "She wins the ball and that's how she makes an impact. I've really enjoyed playing high school together the past 2 years. I played in midfield – she played left forward and it was a lot of fun. She has kind of watched me go through the whole thing."
For Avery, as with any younger sibling, comparisons can get a bit tiring, but it doesn't change her outlook toward her sister.
"A lot of times I get asked if she overshadows me, but I'm not jealous of her. She's an inspiration. She makes me want to work harder, and I know to get to where she is takes hard work," Avery said. "She's always the first person who wants me to do well and to congratulate me. She appreciates what it takes to do it because she already has."
Avery played on back-to-back Region III Championship teams under Kenny Medina at Texans. Kenny left Texans last summer for crosstown rivals Sting, and while Ashley's now-U18 team went with him, Avery's team stayed at Texans. Avery however, has moved over to the Sting Dallas White team under coach Brad Flanagan. The group finished 5th last Fall in the Lake Highlands Classic League.
"When I got there it gave me so much more inspiration to work up to where I was before," she said. "I was really shy at first and I wasn't sure what to think, but all the teams in Division One are so close and so competitive, anything can happen at any time. I just know now that you always to keep working to get better."
That kind of work ethic is what Ashley has been known for for some time. She said the game became a very big part of her life at a relatively young age.
"I caught it (the soccer bug) really early actually. In middle school I was pretty much playing all year, with club, indoor and going to skills. I often played 2 or 3 times a day and I just loved it. I supposed I have missed out on a few social events but I wouldn't trade it back."
Ashley said her national team experiences have been educational, among other things.
"I think you do learn a lot but not in ways you expect. All of us play so much soccer in club and school that whatever system they are using at national team is not so new," she said. "But at these camps you learn how to deal with pressure and how to play in an environment where you're being evaluated as and individual. You're there the whole week being evaluated, where at club you are fighting for your team. Also you learn about the international game and styles of play from other countries."
None of which may have prepared her for the intense recruiting process she went through. Coveted by most every school in the country, Ashley and her parents went through a process of meshing schools that met her academic and soccer priorities.
"At first it was a pretty big list, but then we narrowed it down based on the size of the school and where I wanted to be in the country. I had 10 schools that we contacted and started going on visits to."
The process was circumvented somewhat by the great impression made by coach Robbie Church and the Duke program. Having previously visited only Texas, Ashley pretty much made her mind up a few weeks after visiting the Durham, NC campus, canceling a planned visit to Stanford and deciding on Duke the summer after her sophomore year.
"Wanting to get it over was probably just a small part," she said. "For me it really was that Duke is everything I wanted it to be. I've kind of wanted to go to Duke since I was little.
"For a lot of my friends, the showcases junior year were stressful times because they feel if they don't play well it affects their chances, and that affects them mentally. I was able to just play and have fun. Some of the players on my team feel a little burnt out now in their senior year, because the junior year is so stressful. So it has benefited me to relax and just play and have fun."
Burnout issues aside, Ashley is expecting great things from her Sting team this spring and summer.
"Our only goal is to win a national championship," she said. "Anything less than that would be a disappointment."
Now Avery is beginning a recruiting process of her own, going through a similar process of list-making as letters from schools start coming in. She is considering schools in Texas and California but adds that "It would be amazing to play with Ashley again."
