Kimberly Patrick-- #5 Forward



General--Top candidate to earn starting spot as a freshman in either the midfield unit or on the front line.

Prep--Graduated in June 1999 from Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Calif....played four years of varsity softball as a catcher and leftfielder...also played four years of varsity soccer as a forward...first-team All-League all four years of high school soccer...first-team All-League three years in softball...1998 varsity soccer MVP at Foothill High School...Tri-Valley Herald Girls Winter Athlete of the Year...Valley Times Topo 10 Prep Athletes of the Year selection...'98 Valley Times Girls Soccer Player of the Year...1999 high school All-America in soccer...1999 California Gatorade Girls Soccer Player of the Year...led soccer team to several team championships...team won 1997 North Coast section championship and 1997 and 1998 league championship....also led Foothill to several softball team titles...team captured 1996 and 1998 North Coast section championship and 1997-99 league championships...was senior class vice president....California Scholastic Federation selection. Member of Gold Medal winning United States Women's Soccer Team at the 1999 Pan American Games

Club/ODP Program Soccer--Member of ODP State Team 1995-99 and ODP Regional Team 1995-99...member of both under-16 National Team and under-18 National Team as a forward...named to Women's State Team in 1998.

Personal--Given name is Kimberly Erin Patrick...has one sister, Shannon...born on March 17, 1981 in Walnut Creek, Calif....daughter of David and Patricia Patrick...majoring in sports science...hobbies include softball, snowboarding and water skiing...athletes she most admires are Pele and Michael Jordan...biggest sports thrill was being called in for her first National Team training camp because it had been one of her goals for a long time...says her birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, her last name is Patrick, her favorite color is green and she is in fact, Irish.

SAN RAMON VALLEY TIMES NO REST FOR TIMES' TWO BEST PATRICK STARS AT SOCCER, SOFTBALL Thursday, June 17, 1999 Section: sports Page: D01 Jonathan Okanes Caption: Photo-Kim Patrick's intensity helps make her one of the area's elite high school athletes. (Times File) Breakout -Kim Patrick File (Includes her mug) * High School: Foothill * Sports: Soccer, softball * 1998-99 Highlights: One of the top soccer players in the country for her age, the senior forward scored 22 points on 10 goals and two assists in East Bay Athletic League play. She was named to the All-Times and All-EBAL first teams. Patrick is a member of the U.S. under-18 team and spent a week training with the national team in December. She has a full-ride scholarship to perennial soccer power North Carolina. In softball, she played errorless defense in left field, helping the Falcons advance to the quarterfinals of the North Coast Section 3A playoffs. She was an All-Times first-team pick. * COLLEGE: North Carolina * Coach's Quote: "Not only is she intense, but she is an extreme competitor. She will keep doing something until she gets it down pat. She's a workaholic and a perfectionist." Foothill soccer coach Mary Scavone As far as Kim Patrick is concerned, sleep is overrated. Now, soccer ... that's a different story. There have been occasions in Patrick's life when she sacrificed sleep for soccer. Those times were most prominent last year, when she used to go to sleep around 2 a.m. in order to accomplish everything she needed to get done in a day.

One was playing soccer, whether for her Foothill High School team or to fulfill her many club commitments. Three days a week Patrick went to school, played soccer after class, then hurried to her part-time job at an ice cream shop in Dublin. She would get home after 10 p.m. Then it was time for homework. Patrick's schedule has become less hectic as a senior. She said she has cut down on her workload scooping ice cream and admits she has let her schoolwork slip a bit. But her dedication to soccer has never waned. That dedication has carried Patrick to elite heights. She is the top individual soccer talent in the East Bay, and one of the best in the nation for her age group. She is also one of the top softball players in the area. Although she takes the sport a little less seriously than soccer, she plays a sparkling left field and terrorizes pitchers at the plate. Her excellence in both sports led to her selection as the Times' Female Athlete of the Year for 1999. Patrick received the honor at Wednesday's fifth annual Times Prep Athletes of the Year Awards Banquet at the Hilton Concord. She beat out Campolindo's Jennie Wilson, Miramonte's Vanessa Redman, Berkeley's Aisha Hollans and Acalanes' Corrie Mizusawa in voting by Times sports writers. Patrick's busy schedule shouldn't surprise anyone who knows her. She is intense and competitive, always striving to do whatever it takes to win and improve. And if that prevents her from getting enough sleep, so be it. "Yeah, I was tired, but it didn't really affect me on the field," Patrick said. "It would usually hit me after. But it helps being young." Patrick hasn't been as busy lately, but she's not sitting around, either. A forward, she scored 10 goals and had two assists in the East Bay Athletic League for the Falcons this season, then went right to softball, where she hit .441 and didn't make an error in left field all season. This despite the fact that she missed two Foothill soccer games when she was invited to a week-long training camp with the U.S. national soccer team. She missed four softball games for another soccer commitment when the U.S. under-18 national team played two games in Germany in March. Her soccer exploits also have taken her to Denmark, New Hampshire, Wyoming and Florida. "Flying gets easier the more you do it," Patrick said. "The longer trips start to feel like nothing after awhile." While Patrick did everything in her power to help the Falcons win this year, it wasn't enough. The Falcons were just 4-9-4 overall, 2-8-4 in the EBAL. That was a far cry from what Patrick was used to in her prep career. The Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the North Coast Section soccer playoffs last year and won the NCS title in 1997 when Patrick scored the game-winning goal in the championship match. "Kim is an extreme competitor and she hates to lose," Foothill girls soccer coach Mary Scavone said. "So this season was frustrating for her." Still, Patrick was named to the All-Times and All-EBAL first teams. But the highlight of her season was her week with the U.S. national team. While the Falcons were losing to Granada 2-1 and tying Berkeley 1-1, Patrick was rubbing elbows with Mia Hamm and company as the U.S. prepared for this year's Women's World Cup. "I talked to Mia a little bit. I couldn't believe it," Patrick said. "The emotions were going through my head as she was speaking to me. "I was intimidated. You don't realize how much tougher it is and how much faster they play until you're actually there playing with them. I didn't play as well as I wanted." Patrick helped lead the Falcons softball team to the EBAL title and the No. 1 seed in the NCS 3A playoffs before it was upset by Montgomery-Santa Rosa in the quarterfinals. She didn't strike out the entire season in 68 at-bats. Her defensive highlights included a lunging catch that she turned into a double play to preserve a pivotal 4-3 win over Livermore. Patrick is headed to play soccer at the University of North Carolina, the top women's soccer program in the country. The Tar Heels have won 15 national championships in the past 20 years.