PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Spirit’s selection of Andi Sullivan with the No. 1 pick in the National Women’s Soccer League draft Thursday provided a fitting symmetry.
Before starring at Stanford, where she won an NCAA title last month, the central midfielder grew up in Lorton, Va., and attended South County High School. She played elite club soccer in Bethesda and McLean.
She enrolled in the Washington Freedom’s youth program as a youngster, played for D.C. United Women — the Spirit’s predecessors — and attended Spirit matches at Maryland SoccerPlex. Her mother, Marianna, coached high school and club teams for many years. Her sister, Kayley, was a forward at George Washington University and now coaches in the Spirit’s youth system.
“I loved growing up and playing in that area,” she said from Southern California, where she is in training camp with the U.S. women’s national team. “That area did a lot for me. I’m super excited to return to my roots.”
Sullivan, 22, is the first player from the D.C. youth soccer community to be picked first overall in any of the drafts involving the three women’s pro leagues (WUSA, WPS, NWSL) since 2001. The University of Virginia has had two No. 1 selections: Morgan Brian in 2015 and Emily Sonnett in 2016.
With the third overall pick, acquired in a trade with the Houston Dash this week, the Spirit claimed Duke’s Rebecca Quinn, a Canadian national team midfielder.
Sullivan and Quinn join a squad that returns U.S. national team attacker Mallory Pugh and this week acquired U.S. right back Taylor Smith and 2017 NWSL rookie of the year Ashley Hatch from the North Carolina Courage for Crystal Dunn’s rights.
“I am really excited for the possibilities,” said Jim Gabarra, the Spirit’s head coach and general manager. “We’re in a very good position through trades and draft picks. The ability to draft Andi is huge because not only is she a local player, but a high-quality person that could be a player we build our franchise around for years to come.”
Between winning the NCAA title and reporting to U.S. camp, Sullivan won the Hermann Trophy as the best college player in the country. She has already made seven U.S. appearances and appears on pace to earn a place on the Women’s World Cup squad next year in France.
Now begins the transition to soccer as a profession and to a team that plummeted from the championship game in 2016 to last place in 2017.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and just say, ‘Well, she’s our savior and she’s going to come in there and turn everything around,’ ” Gabarra said. “We also have to be aware of managing her through the stress levels of getting called into national team camps and give her time to experience and grow and learn about our league because it’s extremely challenging.”
Sullivan considered signing overseas, but, she said, “the timing wasn’t quite right and I wanted to stay in the U.S. for now. I can definitely see myself playing in Europe in the future. But I really wanted to be here in the U.S. and help grow the league and also be available for [U.S.] camp as much as possible. That was something that was important to me with [World Cup] qualifying coming up [in the fall], to be in this environment.”
Sullivan credited her family for guidance and inspiration. Her mother was her first coach at Lee Mount Vernon Sports Club with an under-9 team; the family moved to the Bay Area and she is now a director of coaching at the Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club.
“I’m lucky to still watch her coach younger players and it’s always very inspiring to me to see her still have that influence on young girls and teaching them not just soccer skills but life skills,” Andi said. “That is something that can sometimes go unseen. I’m thankful for all see has done for me and still does.”
What her GW-playing sister provided, she said, “was seeing how passionate she was and her work rate. That is something that really rubbed off on me. If I ever worked out with her, she never let me slack off or take a moment to do anything but dig deeper. Cool to see her young in her coaching career but she brings that some work rate and passion.”
After Washington took Sullivan, the Boston Breakers drafted Sullivan’s U.S. teammate, South Carolina forward Savannah McCaskill. The fourth overall pick was also from the D.C. area: Duke attacker Imani Dorsey, The Post’s 2013 All-Met Player of the Year at Good Counsel, was taken by New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC.
In the second round, the Spirit selected Duke center back Schuyler DeBree and Mississippi State forward Mallory Eubanks.
NWSL training camps will open Feb. 19 and the season will start March 24-25. The league has yet to announce the schedule. Washington is expecting to begin on the road before debuting at home the following weekend.
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