All-American Emily Babcock Is Girls Soccer Player of the Year

Everyone hears about the soccer players who score all the goals, or the awesome goalies who block them. It’s harder to get noticed when you’re a defender, because there’s no statistical way to measure performance.

Emily Babcock, who is a senior at and has always played center defense, has definitely found a way to make her presence known on the field. “I don’t play forward or midfield, and I don’t score any goals. But it’s nice to see that people did recognize a defender,” said the unassuming Babcock, who was recently named All American and will continue her soccer career at Providence College.

Babcock told me that she has played soccer for 13 years, starting off with her friends on a West Hartford recreational team. She made the U9 “West Hartford Thunder” Travel team, and eventually joined the Connecticut Football Club (CFC) Wolves premier team. Several years ago, Coach Dave Clarke recruited her to play for CFC United, an elite premier team which plays in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), a top-level soccer organization that hosts national showcase events throughout the country. Babcock has played in tournaments in Las Vegas, Seattle, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, as well as all over the Northeast.

Babcock was co-captain of the Hall Girl’s Soccer Team this year, and recently signed a letter of intent to play Division I soccer for Providence College. She was thrilled to be joined by another Hall co-captain, Megan O’Brien, who signed a letter of intent to play for Fairfield University. Babcock and O’Brien are close friends, and have been travel, premier, and high school teammates. (Kyle Bryan, who will be playing football for Central Connecticut State University, was also at the signing ceremony.)

Babcock has dreamed about playing college soccer for years. “CFC coaches always give you the idea of being a college soccer player. Many of the coaches were also college players, and they are really encouraging,” she said.

Babcock made initial contacts with coaches at colleges she was interested in, and once NCAA rules permitted, they started contacting her as well. She attended a camp at Providence College the summer before her junior year of high school, and really liked the school. “Providence always kept coming back to me. I had a few other options, but Providence will be a perfect fit for me.”

“At the signing our parents were talking about how much work went into this moment,” said Babcock. “My family usually takes a vacation at the Cape, but all of my Memorial Days and Fourths of July have been taken up by soccer.”

Babcock plays year round, although the CFC coach gives them a month off in the winter. Next week she will return to practice three times per week at the CFC Arena indoor facility in Hamden. In July, she will travel to Germany with CFC United to attend the Women’s World Cup and play some games against German teams. “It’s our last hurrah as a team before we all go off to college,” Babcock said.

I asked Babcock about her strengths as a soccer player, and how she distinguished herself as sweeper. “I’m really good at the one-on-ones. I’m fast and I like to chase after people. When I was younger I did slide tackles all the time, but now I like to get the ball and make plays.” As sweeper, Babcock has a great perspective on the field, and has also taken a leadership role organizing the defense.

Many athletes have certain rituals that they engage in before every game. “Our CFC team is very superstitious,” said Babcock, who said that she and O’Brien also had cadences that they would do before every Hall game.

Babcock has received extensive recognition for her soccer skills. She was named to the All Conference team for all four years at Hall, and was named All State as a sophomore, junior and senior. She received All New England as a junior and senior, and finally, as a senior, was named an All American. She was also honored as Connecticut High School Coaches Association Girls Soccer Player of the Year.