"She's gritty. She makes good runs to get open and plays with her head up and off the ball. She's dangerous on the attack, and she's one tough competitor."

These words are from an evaluation written by a youth soccer coach, confirming the selection of 11-year-old Nicole Carroll of Jim Thorpe to the Olympic Development Program team.Under the sponsorship ofEastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer, Carroll was one of 58 girls of the 2004 birth year chosen from a field of 270 candidates who attended the recent tryouts of a five-day soccer camp held at the University of Rhode Island. She was one of only eight selected from all of eastern Pennsylvania.She will now compete in December for a spot on the Region One team, which will include candidates from Maine to Maryland. Those selected will then have the opportunity to qualify for the national ODP team.Carroll began playing recreational soccer when she was 6 years old "just to do something with her friends," said her mother, Barbara."Nicole then attended the British Soccer Camp held at Penn-Kidder School," her father, Bill, said. "Her coaches were from England, and they told us she was really advanced for her age and had good technique. We were surprised because she never had any soccer training at all."After a brief stint at playing baseball, Nicole decided to concentrate on improving her soccer skills, but she left herself time to run in cross-country meets as well. She has collected quite a few race medals in the past few years. Her latest victories were the Bear Creek 5K Run for Arthritis meet on Memorial Day and in the women's division at the Race Street 6K Run in Jim Thorpe this July."I like to do both sports," she said. "In cross-country, it's all on me to try to win a race, but I enjoy playing to win with a team in soccer, too."Speaking of a team, Carroll, who will turn 12 in November, played for Carbon United for three years until moving to her current travel teams: Lehigh Valley United from Allentown and the West End Sparks from Pleasant Valley."Her coaches tell us that Nicole changes the dynamics of the game when they send her in to play," Barbara said. "She's able to take a pass from her defense and control the ball from one end to the other. They say she brings the best out of her teammates because of her high energy level."Three particular games stand out from the list of many of her accomplishments. At the Whitewater Tournament in Wilkes-Barre last year, she scored on a rebound off the post to win a double overtime game, and her goal in the Yardley Tournament with 30 seconds to go sent her LVU team into the championship contest. Playing for West End, she once scored seven of her team's eight goals in a single game."I love the pace of the game and to be creative when I get the ball," said the soon-to-be sixth-grader. "And I like to go from left to right because my dominant foot is my right one."Bob Pohlman, coach of the West End Sparks, called Nicole his "Eveready Energizer bunny.""She never gets tired," he said. "She plays the wing and is great at setting up her teammates with her accurate passing. Nicole's well under 5 feet tall, but she can outmaneuver bigger opponents with her athletic ability and her quickness. The best thing, though, is she is extremely coachable. The progress she's made in the two and a half years since she's been with us is incredible."Barbara and Bill monitor her many soccer activities to see that she does not get overwhelmed with playing for so many teams."She just loves to play and manages herself very well," Barbara said. "When she gets up in the morning, she wants to know if there's a practice that evening. In the house and out of the house, Nicole always seems to have her foot on a soccer ball.""Playing the sport is helping her develop leadership skills and improve her confidence level," Bill said."With high performers in sports, failure is part of the process. Nicole is learning that she has to persevere and to move on when things don't always go her way," Barbara said."With her desire and technical skills, Nicole can go as far as she wants. There are no boundaries holding her back," coach Pohlman said."My ultimate goal is to play for the United States National team," she said.When she's not playing the cello, reading books, playing soccer or making the principal's list for academic excellence, she does speed and agility training. Her trainer has told Barbara and Bill that Nicole has a unique focus that cannot be taught, which even at her young age is a noticeable trait of Olympic athletes."We are so proud of her," said her mother with a tear in her eye.Barbara Carroll will always call her daughter "my baby girl," but when her "baby" runs onto a soccer field, Nicole competes with the determination and skills of an athlete who is far beyond her young years.