One reason for Olivia Klei's rising fortunes in elite youth soccer is her adherence to the old adage "Little things mean a lot."

"I focus on the little things and try to perfect them and make it that much better," Klei said. "If you do the simple things right it makes everything better."

What Klei, a talented forward and wing with Pleasanton Rage and the U17 Women's National Team, doesn't say, is that she does complicated things right too. Her excellent technique and vision have attracted college coaches from all around, but it's nearby Santa Clara University that won the race for the 2009 graduate's verbal commitment.

Along with the school's campus and academic record, plus its players and coaching staff, Klei cited the attacking soccer preferred by head coach Jerry Smith as a big factor in her decision.

"He tries to just perfect soccer, with combination play and all of that. That's what I like," Klei said. "The game isn't just kicking it and rushing after it."

Watching Klei play you see a good mix of passion and grace. She has very good skills and creativity, but is not shy at all about mixing it up to win a ball if needed. Her mother Katy notes that these dual qualities manifested themselves somewhat as she going through the recruiting process.

"I think the positive for her was just to get the attention. She would look at the mail and say ‘hmmm… we can visit here….we can visit there' We might get the map out and see where a certain school was," Katy Klei said. "So that part of it was nice, but I do think there is a lot of pressure to make a decision, and then she would get to know the coaches and get along well with them so she felt badly about having to disappoint some of them."

Back when it all started in recreational soccer, Katy Klei noted that her daughter was standing out in what she calls "The bunch ball games" (good description).

"There's always the one who scored 10 goals in the game and that was Olivia," she said. "But all I knew from that was that she was athletic. It was later when Philippe started looking at the team that he began identifying players, and he said Olivia was one who had something extra."

"Philippe" is Pleasanton Rage director of coaching Philippe Blin. He has worked with Klei throughout out her years in competitive soccer, and the result is a skilled, creative player with plenty of competitive fire.

"She has some good creative skills and she is a highly competitive kid, which makes a difference at the next level in my opinion," Blin said. "Olivia is also a left-footed player, which is very rare on the women's side when you think about it. She is a good kid, a good person.  She does a lot with charity, working with the homeless and stuff like that."

Blin said Klei's competitive streak is indelible

"She cannot stand to lose one simple game of 1v1 or 2v2 that she is involved in. If there is an opponent involved, she has to win it," he said. "I was listening to Michael Phelps (Olympic swimming champion) talk the other day and he said he is so competitive at everything he does. That's Olivia."

Klei is extremely driven to win championships and already has helping Santa Clara to a national title as one of her goals. She's also thinking and working hard in preparation for November's FIFA U17 World Cup in New Zealand. Klei played in all five games of the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament at Trinidad & Tobago in July, scoring against El Salvador.

She describes the experience of playing in a national team jersey as "exhilarating."

"I mean, you're playing for your country. It's an opportunity not many people get and I feel fortunate enough to be given that opportunity," she said. "It makes me work that much harder because you never know when you're going to get that opportunity again. We think it would be  amazing if we could win the first U17  World Cup."

Knowing there are no guarantees for the final roster, Klei continues to work with her club and on her own. She continues to excel at U17 coach Kaz Tambi's pet drill, juggling a tennis ball. She's up to 75 times now (if you think that is easy, try it). She also trains with younger brothers Matt and Jeff, working on short and long passing and striking the ball.

None of this is new for Klei however, as coach Blin was demanding the same back when she was just 8 year old.

"He's big on technique," she understated. "You start juggling when you are 8. When we were 10 we had to juggle 40 times, alternating feet. At the time it was a lot. You would get tested on your juggling and if you didn't have to make it you had to do sprints. You had to practice on your own a lot to get there, which is what he was trying to get us to do."

A decade later the work is clearly paying off, but competitive spirit and strong mental approach to the game Klei shows indicate there is much, much more to come.