Ashlee Jordan
By Karen Ortega
Ashlee Jordan, player for College of Southern Nevada’s Ladies Coyote Soccer Team, won Raising Cane’s Coyote Athletics Spotlight award after demonstrating remarkable skills on the field.
Coaches nominate student athletes to highlight key players to give them recognition. Jordan’s Coach Rob Dahl, head women’s soccer coach, was astonished by Jordan’s determination and his nomination shined light on her accomplishments.
Dahl said, “She has come on strongly and seems to get better each week. I felt she deserved the recognition. She has overcome quite a bit physically as an athlete and emotionally as a person and I love having her on the team.”
“The feeling of being on the field and competing just gives me such a rush and feeling that’s indescribable,” Jordan said. “Nothing else I do gives me that feeling but soccer and being able to be a part of a team where everyone has the same goal makes it that much better. Just being able to be a part of something so amazing and beautiful is truly an honor and that drives my passion.”
This is Jordan’s first season playing for CSN Coyotes. Jordan played on 14 teams in the past. One of her favorite teams was Las Vegas Premier Sports Academy. She traveled with LVPSA to college showcases. She learned to always play her best as she never knew who was watching.
Passion and drive are qualities that Jordan radiates. “Ashlee has so much heart and love for soccer that when she plays she gives it a 110 percent all the time no matter how tired she is,” said Shae Hollan, teammate and high-school friend. “Her strongest suit on the field is her speed and aggression.”
Teammate Sydni Aldan was not surprised that Jordan won the Raising Cane’s Coyote Athletics Spotlight award. “She is beyond dedicated to being one of the key players out on the field and she deserves it. Ashlee is a true, genuine, reliable friend. I have known Ashlee for quite some time now because we did play club soccer together back in high school and ever since I met her she was always there to lean on. She is definitely one-of-a-kind and her personality shines throughout everything she does. I am really thankful to have that personal friendship with her both on and off the field and I know that with her hard work and dedication to soccer, she will go so far.”
Jordan’s passion for the sport started when she was 4. “I realized my passion for soccer at a very young age,” Jordan said. “I was in multiple sports growing up and something about soccer just made me love it so much.”
On the field
Her favorite soccer player and role model Alex Morgan, who plays for United States Women’s National Soccer Team, keeps Jordan motivated even when the sport gets tough. “I feel I can relate to her and she is an amazing striker and shows tremendous work rate,” Jordan said.
During senior year in high school, Jordan injured her knee, which kept her from playing the entire season. That was dire at that point in her soccer career as recruiters were out identifying talent for colleges.
Jordan’s drive to succeed and be back on the field gave her the strength she needed for the countless hours of physical therapy and training. “Hard work and persistence are two main aspects of soccer, which I also use in my daily life. Persistence is key and even when you get knocked down or get rejected you got to get up and keep trying and trying.”
“My leg feels really strong and stable now,” Jordan said. “Sometimes it hurts but it’s bearable and it goes away pretty quick. It affected where I am now because I could have had an opportunity to go somewhere out of state but everything happens for a reason and I love the team I’m on now.”
Jordan plans to play two more seasons at CSN and transfer to a university to finish her sports medicine degree.
“Soccer has been a part of my life for the longest and without it I don’t know who I would be,” Jordan said. “It gives me life and makes it worth my wild. Nothing could ever take soccer away from me or me away from it. It has made me who I am today. I am a strong, persistent, hard-working young women and soccer has given me so much of that.”
Coyote Student News at the College of Southern Nevada 