Around this time of year, Jenna Lang would typically be preparing for her upcoming high school soccer season at Columbus North after a busy club season.
That will have to wait a little bit longer.
Lang’s club soccer team, the Indy Premier SC 03G Elite I, is set to play in the United States Youth Soccer National Championships in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida from July 18 to 25.
Indy Premier, which plays in the Girls 18U Division, qualified for nationals by winning the National League Playoff in Greensboro, North Carolina back in early March. The team won the Indiana State Cup in early June, but since they qualified for nationals they gave up their spot in the regional due a tournament in California that same weekend.
Lang, who’ll be a senior at North in the fall, said that this is her first time qualifying for the nationals with her club team.
The national tournament will start out in the traditional group play format with four teams in each group and the top two teams advancing out. Lang’s group play games with the team will be Tuesday, Wednesday and July 22.
On Tuesday, Indy Premier will take on Total Futbol Academy TFA G03 Elite (Ohio), on Wednesday, they will face NCFC Youth 03 NCFC Elite G (North Carolina) and on July 22, they’ll play Impact United SC Impact MN (Utah).
Should Lang and Indy Premier advance out of the group stage, they would play in the semifinal on July 24. The championship will be held on July 25.
At the national tournament, there will be a lot of soccer scouts on hand to watch the games. Even though Lang announced her commitment to play at the University of Michigan last October, Lang said the atmosphere will still feel like the big stage for her with the top soccer scouts at the college, national team and Olympic-levels all present.
“We have something more to play for because we have the people and the team it takes to possibly win a national championship for our club team,” Lang said. “It puts a little bit more emphasis on the importance of the event and the reality that we could do that. I definitely am excited to get back to the high school season. Even though I’m excited to play in general, it will be a really fun experience to be (at nationals).”
After the tournament concludes, there’s one last national event for Lang before she laces up for North.
Lang was one of eight people across the country in their respective high school sports that was invited to present in the USA Today High School Sports Award show. The prerecorded show will be streamed online on Aug. 5.
Athletes had to get nominated to be eligible to be a presenter, and North girls soccer coach David Young nominated Lang for the program. Lang got the phone call a few weeks later saying that she was chosen.
“The chances were pretty slim with how many people they were selecting, but I think it was a cool experience to be recognized for a high school sport and to shine the light on even Columbus, as well,” Lang said. “It was pretty cool to represent my high school and soccer in general.”
Lang said that eight athletes, male and female, were chosen. She said that she got the opportunity to meet the hosts that included TV host and personality Charly Arnolt and Grammy Award-winning artist DJ Khaled, as well as the other top athletes in the country.
“It was really cool to see and talk to other athletes across the country that were at the top of their sports that they play,” Lang said. “I talked to the hosts as well, even though it wasn’t directly, they were still saying your name, and they put us all on the screen that they had. It was a cool experience just to be recognized for high school sports and meeting all the people across the country.”
While Lang has shined in the national spotlight in recent weeks, she has also been giving back to North’s program.
In between her tournaments over the past few weeks, Lang has been helping out at Young’s youth soccer camps. She says that she’s been working with the older group of girls at the camp.
“It’s been really good meeting some of the younger faces and younger girls that have an interest in soccer, and having fun with them, as well,” Lang said.
