Olivia Thomas packs a powerful kick, literally and figuratively.
At age 25, she considers herself to be "on the older side" for a soccer player. Which, for those of us who have T-shirts of that vintage, is a jarring assessment.
Thomas, a Port St. Lucie native who attended Treasure Coast High School, will need the poise and wisdom of an older person, though, as she tackles her next assignment as captain of the new Palm City Americanas women's soccer team.
The Americanas are an expansion team in the USL W "pre-professional" league, for women like Thomas who aren't quite ready to quit playing after their club, high school or college careers are over.
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The best players from USL W could eventually be headed for the USL Super League, a full-fledged professional organization where young women could earn paychecks for playing the game they love. You know, like the best men's players do.
But all of that is a few steps down the road. In the short term, Thomas wants to establish a "moral character" for the Americanas that will serve the team well as it begins its first season of play next month.
Taking the field for the Americanas represents a bit of unfinished business for Thomas, who played at Daytona State College and Lenoir-Rhyne University, a Division II school in North Carolina, before her senior season was cut short by COVID cancellations.
She's coaching two boys and one girls youth team on the Treasure Coast, but wasn't quite ready to hang up her cleats for good.
She plays center back, the final line of defense before the goalkeeper in soccer. And she sees competing in the USL W as "the next level up" on her career path.
"I wasn't quite ready to stop playing," she told me. " ... In my personal situation, it (the challenge) will be along the lines of how far I can push myself."
Julie Hemsley, who coached Thomas at the youth league level, expects her protege to be ready for this new adventure. Hemsley, coach of the Mako Soccer Club, recalls how Thomas evolved from being just a player into a player-coach during her second season with the team.
Hemsley predicted Thomas won't have trouble getting the respect of her new teammates. Thomas shows leadership both through her words and her actions, her former coach said.
"She just makes things happen," Hemsley said.
The Americanas will need that kind of leadership to make their inaugural season a success.
Steve Burgess, the team's coach, is still in the process of assembling a roster. Since he's hoping to tap into the college ranks, he doesn't expect some of his players to be available until after the spring semester ends.
There will be informal tryouts for some players this month and even into early May, just ahead of the May 10 season opener against FC Miami City.
While Burgess expects his team to be "competitive from Day 1," (don't all coaches say that?) he's reluctant to define initial success in terms of wins and losses.
"It's more about what we do in the community than what we do on the field," Burgess said.
In other words, will people come out to see the Americanas play? Will people be talking about the team? And if they are, what will they be saying?
Burgess is clearly expecting to put a strong product on the field. He says some of the players will have experience playing for college teams in the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference, where the level of competition is extremely high.
The Americanas will play their home games at theFootball Farmat 6155 S.W. Leighton Farm Ave., near where Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike converge in Palm City.
Christopher Corey, the team's founder, said tickets will go on sale April 27. Season tickets for the six home games, scheduled to be played from May 13 through July 1, will be $50 per person or $100 per family.
Single-game tickets will be $10 per person, or $20 per family.
Ticket inquiries can be made at registrar.americanas@gmail.com.
As a huge soccer fan, I'm hoping this works out.
Corey pulled a coup by getting seven youth league teams ― Martin United, PSL Hurricanes, Treasure Coast United, Mako Soccer Club, Indian River Soccer Academy, Jensen Beach Soccer Club and Indiantown Warriors Soccer ― to put aside their rivalries and promote the Americanas as a future option for some of their best players.
Corey is also one of the partnersplanning to develop a massive sports complexon37 acresalongMidway Road, a little over a mile west of Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County. That could be the future site of a USL Super League team, if all goes according to plan.
But the first step will be getting fan support for the Americanas, a mid-level amateur team without the built-in constituency that comes from being associated with a school. In my view, the Treasure Coast community could do a better job of supporting the St. Lucie Mets, who have a well-established brand name in our national pastime.
Then again, soccer is a different sport that could appeal to a different type of fan base, particularly if it captures the imagination of young girls who might dream of playing professional soccer someday.
"I think having a pathway for girls as they get older ... it gives girls something to strive for," Thomas said.
In that sense, Thomas could be a pioneer. Which may be just what she needs to "rekindle" her youthful spirit.
This column reflects the opinion ofBlake Fontenay.Contact him via email atbfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.
