GENTRY — Amber Ellis made her mark on the Arkansas high school soccer scene, shattering the single-season state record for goals with 68 as a freshman.
What’s on Ellis’ agenda for an encore? She’s focused on improving her skills, but the 15-year-old prefers to talk about helping the Gentry Lady Pioneers make a run at a Class 4A state title.
Ellis is currently coming off the bench for the Lady Pioneers basketball team, which qualified for the regional tournament. So soccer will have to wait for the moment. That’s not a problem for Ellis.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Ellis said. “We’ve had our ups and downs. I feel like I’ve improved a lot. It’s a big jump from junior high to high school basketball.”
She’s looking forward to high school soccer season though since many of her basketball teammates also play soccer.
“Our soccer family is a lot like our basketball family and it’s been a lot of fun,” Ellis said.
Ellis and the Lady Pioneers soccer team won a second consecutive 4A-1 Conference title and advanced to the Class 4A state quarterfinal last year, losing 2-1 to eventual runner-up Maumelle, 2-1. She makes no bones about wanting more this year.
“Honestly, our goal is to take state,” Ellis said. “We only lost two seniors and we’re gaining a bunch of freshmen. I feel like we opened a lot of eyes to what we can do. I can’t explain how excited I am to join these girls and play our season.”
Gentry coach Fabrizio Campagnola admitted there will be some pressure on Ellis because of what she did last season, but she’s shown the maturity to handle it well thus far.
“She’s very down to earth, smart,” Campagnola said. “She just needs to follow the path. Give it time. Don’t rush it. Don’t expect to score four or five goals a game.”
Ellis has worked on improving her fundamentals, but she specifically has worked to get stronger physically. She’s often played against older girls in club soccer, so doing the same at the high school level wasn’t new.
“I’m just really small compared to some of the other girls,” Ellis said. “I joined a fitness and weights class to improve my upper body strength. I feel like basketball has helped me with my speed, too, with full-court sprints and cutting.”
John Marshall, who coaches Ellis’s club team and doubles as the Springdale Har-Ber girls coach, told her a forward has to be a bit selfish at times.
“I told her there’s a fine line there,” Marshall said. “I think she’s mature and got a toughness about her. There’s times she gets frustrated, but she fights through adversity.
“She’s got that ability to find the goal. Scoring 65 goals again is going to be tough for her. But she has that eye for the goal.”
Many high-calibre players often choose to specialize in only one sport when they get to high school, but Ellis said attending a smaller school like Gentry gives her the chance to play multiple sports. But she’s not closing the door.
“It’s pretty easy to manage playing both basketball and soccer,” Ellis said. “We’ll play out this season and see how it goes from there.”
Amber Ellis
SCHOOL Gentry CLASS Sophomore HEIGHT 5-7 NOTABLE Finished with state record 68 goals as a freshman along with 10 assists. … Scored a single-game high six goals twice last season and on both occasions sat out parts of both games. … Helped lead the Lady Pioneers to the quarterfinals, losing 2-1 to eventual Class 4A runner-up Maumelle.