The high school/ECNL split is a delicate dance for enterprising girls players determined to do both. As a league, ECNL still hasn’t opted to drop the hammer on its players pulling double duty and ban them from doing both at the same time. The idea’s largely been repudiated by players, but some coaches who see the strain take its toll on their players are in favor of going the one-or-the-other route.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum, Mallory Pugh’s high school exploits this year should drop your jaw.

As recently as last August, Pugh was playing (and starting) for the U20 Women’s National Team at the 2014 World Cup. The tournament ended poorly for the U.S., which couldn’t advance past North Korea in the quarterfinals. As a 16-year old attacking midfielder/forward hybrid, even appearing on the bench at that stage wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. Of course, Pugh isn’t a common player. Tabbed as the next big thing in American women’s soccer by anyone paying attention, it’s only a matter of time before the 2016 UCLA commit makes her full national team debut.

To unleash that kind of ability on the high school level seems almost cruel, and it certainly doesn’t happen often. When she’s not in national team camps, most of Pugh’s time is sucked up by ECNL duties with Real Colorado. She’s scored 17 goals in 13 matches for that team so far this season.

But her time with high school squad Mountain Vista defies logic. As of this week, Pugh’s already set career high school marks in goals and assists in a season, and she’s only played six games. In those six matches, Pugh’s somehow managed to amass 17 goals and nine assists, which averages out to 7.2 points per game. Since Pugh started back up with Mountain Vista, the team is 6-0 and is outscoring opponents 48-1. In six games. With production like this, Mountain Vista is a sure thing as Class 5A state title favorites. The question is whether her heavy duties will pull her away from the team before it has a chance to hoist the trophy.

Examining high school soccer in remote areas

Texas is currently the only state currently holding postseason competition, with the state tournament slated for later this month. With only two men’s Division I programs, the state’s vast expanse can sometimes seem like a barren, abandoned soccer land that scouting left behind.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal is currently addressing how soccer is developing (or not developing) in West Texas via a three-part series. You can read the first of those here.

Even if you have no stake in West Texas soccer, as you almost assuredly do not, this series should pull out some broader themes that apply to nearly every rural area in the country. MLS teams are trying to devise ways to plunge into the outer fringes of the game in this country and cull talent from underserved areas. The most notable news on this front of late involves Sporting KC, which recently announced its intention to seek out players in rural Garden City, Kansas, some 370 miles from SKC headquarters.

Merely talking about these issues won’t solve them, but it helps bring their importance to the fore. The more people in West Texas and Garden City and other rural areas talk about how to improve their level of soccer, the more they’ll do to contribute to the vast tapestry of soccer development in America.

Image: Denver Post