Suburban native on top of soccer world
Representing the United States national soccer team was never something Amy LePeilbet outwardly declared as her goal while growing up in Crystal Lake.
She was too humble and too unpretentious to make those statements, those who know her say.
But with the hard work and dedication the Prairie Ridge High School graduate put in on and off the field, it's not surprising that LePeilbet is now on a U.S. squad that's vying for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The defender has started all five of the team's matches this campaign.
LePeilbet, who was born in Spokane, Wash., and moved to Crystal Lake when she was 8, started playing soccer in the second grade. She played for the Crystal Lake Park District and joined the Sparta Football Club in Aurora as a high school junior.
She holds Prairie Ridge High School records with 53 goals and 37 assists.
“She just wanted to play soccer,” her father Andy LePeilbet said Thursday from his hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. “It may have been a fleeting thought at the end of high school, like a ‘It could only happen to me'-type thing. But when she got into college at Arizona State University, it became an active thought.”
Andy LePeilbet said Amy's drive and determination steered her to the top of the sport.
“This kid has a heart the size of a lion's and determination down to the bones, to the marrow,” he said. “And I think most of these women on this team are like that, so it's not unique like that. But it makes her unique as a person. These are the top 21 women in America (in soccer), so you've got to be special.”
Patti Hie was the assistant athletic director and varsity girls basketball coach at Prairie Ridge who coached LePeilbet for three seasons in the late '90s. Hie, now the school's athletic director, described LePeilbet as the most gifted athlete she has coached in 30 years.
“She could pick up anything,” Hie said. “I had the team up to the cabin, and the first time she tried wakeboarding she got it; the first time she tried water skiing she got it. Everything comes so easy to her.”
Even though athleticism came easy to LePeilbet, Hie said the 2000 graduate was the hardest working player on any team.
“She had a tremendous work ethic,” Hie said. “When she had time off from basketball she would be working out for soccer. That gained her a lot of respect from coaches, teammates and opponents.”
Hie said a 15-year-old LePeilbet would never have believed she would be playing in the final of the World Cup at 29.
“Amy was always so humble,” Hie said. “She never wanted to be considered a ball hog, even though at times you wanted her to be. She never wanted to make a big deal of herself, but her performance on the court or the field always demanded the best from her team and opponents.”
A knee injury in late 2006 prevented LePeilbet from participating in the 2007 World Cup in China.
But she's in Frankfurt now on soccer's biggest stage.
Hie said in a recent email exchange LePeilbet shared some thoughts on her experience in Germany.
“She is just thrilled,” Hie said. “They're not taking anything for granted.”
FIFA Women's World Cup final
Who: USA vs. Japan
When: Coverage starts 1 p.m. Sunday. Game time is 1:45 p.m.
Where to watch: ESPN