Fayetteville's persuasions enough for Mitchell

The Prep Rally: Best in the West series will highlight the all-time best players in western Arkansas as selected by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

When Anne Mitchell was a freshman, she was approached about playing high school soccer, and she balked at the idea.

But the former Fayetteville standout was approached again, and she was glad to receive another opportunity. Otherwise, she would have not enjoyed a fine soccer career that included a state championship and the Gatorade player of the year award for Arkansas in 2010.

"I really don't know why," Mitchell said. "I guess I wasn't good enough to play high school soccer. I was focused on club soccer, and I was running track and field. I don't know why high school soccer wasn't something I was focused on at the time. But coach Samir (Haj) talked me into it, so I came out and played.

"I wound up meeting my best friends playing soccer. We had a really good team from the start -- a lot of strong players. It was nice to play with older girls that I looked up to in soccer. I guess I didn't realize how good I really was."

Fayetteville must have known what kind of player it was trying to influence because Mitchell immediately merged as a speed threat and a scoring threat during her freshman season. The following year, Mitchell and fellow sophomore Casey O'Brien accounted for a huge portion of the Lady Bulldogs' scoring as Fayetteville reached the Class 7A state championship before suffering a loss to Bentonville.

Mitchell then did her part to help her team reach the state championship match again, and this time Fayetteville claimed the title with a shootout victory over Bentonville. Mitchell finished the season with 17 goals and 9 assists, including three goals and an assist during the state tournament, and earned all-state honors as well as the Gatorade award.

"Anne was extremely athletic, and I think that was one of her strongest qualities," said Gena McGee, who took over as Fayetteville's head coach in 2010 after being an assistant. "She had speed, she had endurance and she had height and some strength about her. Having all those qualities made her a goal-scoring threat when she played.

"It seemed like when we had games, there was a lot of attention on her. She always pushed herself, and she was extremely competitive internally. She wasn't necessarily competing against another player, but she was competing against her own body to do more than what she thought she could do."

Mitchell then signed a letter of intent with Centre College, an NCAA Division III located near Danville, Ky., but she and her Fayetteville teammates didn't enjoy the same success during her senior season. She made a switch in positions from forward to an outside midfielder in hopes of getting other players involved.

As a result, her scoring dropped to just three goals. But that didn't keep her from earning all-state honors and the opportunity to play in the annual All-Star soccer game.

"I was not that good at footwork," Mitchell said. "My greatest strengths were speed and endurance, where I could further and faster than a lot of people. That's where my skills came in, that was my bread and butter through my entire career.

"But I don't think I would change a thing. I thought I had a solid four years there."