individual sport. She wanted to be a part of a team sport, so she joined the
Lady Falcons soccer team.
“I loved tennis, which was a team sport, but it really wasn’t,” Averett said.
“With soccer, it’s my team and all of those girls were like my sisters and we
care so much about each other. We’re just so close. I loved the team aspect
about it.”
That led the senior to signing Tuesday to continue her soccer career with
the Brewton-Parker Barons next spring.
“This was cool,” Averett said. “My sister did this and I remember being
here watching her (sign) and I wanted to do that one day. It was cool that this
time it was me. It was exciting.”
Averett signed while East Laurens head coach Brad Lord and her future
coach Dan Robertson watched along with family and friends.
“I’m proud,” Lord said. “This is my first player that has gone on to play
soccer at college. Anna is what a student-athlete should be. She’s the
valedictorian of the class. She won my Most Valuable Player Award this year
and she was the player that held everything together. She was a very solid
player in the center of the field. She had a head for the game. It’s rare that
you get somebody to understand the game at her age. I couldn’t be more
proud of her.”
Averett liked what she saw at Brewton-Parker.
“Coach Robertson is really cool and he’s really a nice guy,” Averett said.
“He really cares about players. I also liked the class sizes too. There’s a really
good teacher to student ratio. That really sold it for me.”
Averett enjoyed her time playing soccer with the Lady Falcons.
“I loved my time here at East Laurens,” Averett said.
“Coach Lord is awesome and he’s awesome to play for. He always made
it fun. You didn’t mind going to practice for him because it was always fun
every day. That was different from some of the other sports that I played. But
it was fun at his practices.”
And Lord believes Averett will get better.
“She’s not settling for Brewton-Parker,” he said. “It’s something she
chose herself. Any time you have an interest in what you’re doing, you’re
going to excel. I expect great things from her. Especially close to home, she’ll
receive support. Her (former) coaches will be able to watch her and keep up
with her as well.”