A student-athlete on the Arizona Western College Lady Matadors women's soccer team has a chance to play for the national team for Costa Rica.
Matadors Athletics officials announced Monday that Valeria Valverde, a sophomore forward from Phoenix, was invited to join Costa Rica's Under-20 Women's National Team training camp. The team will be finalizing its roster for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be played in Poland in September.
KAWC reached out to Matadors Athletics for an interview with Valverde but she has already left for Costa Rica. She will train there for the next three weeks.
Valverde trained with the Costa Rica national team this past December and was notified in May that she was invited to the training camp.
In a released statement, Matadors head coach Victor Verdugo said "This is a tremendous opportunity for Valeria... we're very happy for her. It's a great opportunity and while we're missing her a little bit, representing your country is always a priority. The fact that she's able to do that is incredible."
The Lady Matadors soccer team has already begun its early season schedule with matches at UC Riverside and Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Their next game is Saturday at Mt. San Antonio. The first home game of the season is Aug. 22 vs. Utah State Eastern.
Coach Verdugo will again lead an international Lady Matadors team with players from Phoenix, El Centro and Imperial, Calif., Mexico, Colombia, Japan and Brazil.
AWC has done well with helping players get to the next level at four-year colleges and universities. Last season, 12 players signed with schools including Linka Ono with LSU, Asa Yamazaki at UCLA, Iyan Hernandez at Nevada-Reno and Alison Peralta with New Mexico.
