Player development in the United States is an ongoing challenge. Clubs and coaches try a lot of different methods and a common comment made is that the best natural talents are often committed to sports other than soccer.

Then you have players that have a special kind of talent, like Emily Bates, who plays for Dallas Texans U14 Girls.

The young native of Melissa, Texas, displays amazing raw talent and a natural soccer savvy that is refreshing to see at such a young age. It’s what helps a a player stand out from the rest among systemized youth development programs.

“She is very rare because she looks natural with the ball at her feet,” Dallas Texans Head Coach Tim Bennett said. “She is a fast player but she gets even faster with the ball. She loves scoring goals and puts herself in positions to score even in unorthodox ways.”

Emily can be considered a pure forward. As Bennett explains, she is good with her back to the goal and can combine very well with her teammates. She is very creative, likes going at people, and moves in a style of a classic winger.

However, throughout it all she is still a kid, and displays that innocence and purity both on and off the field.

“Emily’s personality is that of your average teenager. She is a very relaxed and fun kid, and she plays that way,” Bennett said. “Despite the environment that she may be in, she is the same kid on and off the field. I think it’s one of the things that makes her so creative, that she doesn’t shy away from who she is and plays in that exact way.”

The beauty of Emily’s situation is how rapidly she’s progressed as a player. Just this summer, she notched eight goals at the Eclipse Select Challenge Cup in the Chicago area. The potency of her play has been more than encouraging to the Dallas Texans staff.

“We just had her for five months and over the course of that period she has really developed very quickly. She is actually one star among many on our team,” Bennett said. “It’s because she is surrounded with very good players, which allows her to do the things that she is good at.”

As mentioned by her coach, an advantage that Emily has is her ability to connect with different players on the team. Alongside Emily is Brittney Crabtree, whose constant combination with Emily has been a large part of Dallas Texans’ success.

There is also left back Megan Danko and Desiree James, who also excels playing with her back at goal and whom Bennett considers to be the fastest kid in the country for her age group.

“Emily takes it upon herself to be able to adapt to whom she plays with. She is a cerebral kid,” Bennett explains.

Bennett said Emily has the potential to track with a long list of Texans who have gone on to excel at the youth national team and college levels.

“The club is very demanding because of the tradition and expectation that they have to reach,” he said. “Having Emily playing with the best players in Dallas and in this culture will help her develop further.”