Relaxed off the field, intense on it is a good way to describe Haley Cooper.

The Eclipse Select U16 Girls central defender is a passionate performer on the playing field, working hard to cover, clear her lines, and particularly to organize the defense. Her focus and drive while playing is palpable.

Talking to her off the field gives you a very different view of the high school sophomore. She has a very upbeat personality and seems equally at ease talking with people she knows, doesn’t know, older and younger. Her mother Denise confirms this quality in her daughter.

“Haley is probably one of the nicest, most easy-going people you will meet off the field. She’s always happy to talk with people and is just very personable,” Denise said, before adding that this indeed provides contrast to her on-field makeup.

“But she’s very intense on the field,” she added. “If you’re at a game and her team doesn’t do well, you don’t want to go up to her right then. It passes quickly though, and she goes back to being optimistic and putting the best spin on stuff.”

Cooper, who has captained the Eclipse side since the U12 age group, says she has an affinity for playing defense.

“I love center back. You see a lot of kids come in and at first they don’t like it, but I love it,” she said. “One of the things I do best is organizing and from back there you can really see the field and how the play is going.”

A good natural athlete, Cooper has a special enjoyment of the mental side of the game.

“There’s always the athletic part of it, but it’s (the mental side) that normally makes the difference between teams and players in a game.”

Cooper has been a part of the just-concluded cycle of the U15 Girls National Team, and recently competed up a year with the Region II 92 ODP squad at the U.S. Youth Soccer Interregional at Coral Springs, FL. She has also taken part in a European trip with Region II.

“There have been so many good opportunities to play with and against good players,” she said. “I want to play college soccer at a top school for sure, and after that there’s the new Women’s Professional Soccer league coming out. Of course I’d love to be with the national team someday.”

Cooper added that she trains up to three times a week with her club team, plus weekly visits to a training and performance facility, and individual skill work assigned by her club coach Rory Dames. She points to North Carolina standout Casey Nogueira as a favorite player on the women’s side (Cristiano Ronaldo on the men’s).

Contact from college coaches has been plentiful, but thus far she isn’t paying too much attention to it. She does note she’d like to major in something to do with sports medicine.

Her Eclipse Select team just won the Disney Showcase and is performing well in the U.S. Youth Soccer National League as well. Her teammates include Darcy Hargadon, Georgia Waddle and Georgiana Wagemann.