Life has come full circle for Sophia Mize.
It was only a couple of years ago that Mize — now a rising senior at Baylor School and a soccer standout for the Lady Red Raiders — was playing for the Chattanooga Lady Red Wolves’ youth academy club. As she competed and learned, she was also watching older players, including her sister Zoey, compete for the organization’s pre-professional USL W League team.
But recently, she found herself one of the targets of a handful of younger academy players who wanted her autograph, a first in her young life.
In a year, she’ll join Zoey on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga soccer team. But for now, the pair are part of a youth movement that has propelled the Lady Red Wolves to an 8-3-1 record in their first season together.
Chattanooga, which is No. 11 this week in the USL W League power rankings, fell in its regular-season finale, 1-0 to South Georgia Tormenta FC on Friday night at CHI Memorial Stadium in East Ridge. But whether the season continues into the playoffs or not, the Mize sisters have enjoyed this summer.
“We make each other better,” Sophia said earlier this week. “Just to know that she’s always going to be looking out for me, I’m always going to be looking out for her on the field — we have a special bond that no one else on the team can really have or take away from us.”
A year ago, a much more experienced club fell one point shy of advancing to the playoffs. So while competing for a title was the plan, just as it is for almost any team entering a season, it didn’t seem likely considering the makeup of the roster, which didn’t have an attacker and was going to be led by a number of younger players.
A 3-0-1 start to the season, with all four matches at home, helped the hot start and gave the Lady Red Wolves confidence. And they have maintained it, entering Friday’s match with 26 goals, three more than all of last season, and have done it without a dedicated forward, although UTC midfielder McKenzie Smith had done an admirable job up top, with a team-high six goals.
“To do this with a young team in what some people would have referred to before the season started as a transition year from a core of girls who had been here year in and year out, is cool,” Lady Red Wolves coach Luke Winter said. “It’s great to do with with kids and players, but they’re not kids; they’re young women who I’ve known, who the city has known and it’s special.
“People want to be them.”
Multiple student-athletes who were in high school just weeks ago — including the younger Mize, Baylor’s Jada Cooper and former GPS star Kennedy Ball, who will play for the Arkanas Razorbacks in college — have played for the Lady Red Wolves this year, with Cooper and Ball scoring so far this year.
And the youth movement could lead to a title.
The second-place team in the USL W League’s South Central Division, Tennessee Soccer Club, won Friday night and would leapfrog the Lady Red Wolves for the division title if it defeats Southern Soccer Academy on Sunday in Nashville. Chattanooga has to hope for either a draw or a loss for Tennessee SC, results that would give the Lady Red Wolves the crown and a spot in the playoffs.
This wasn’t supposed to be the team that was there, but yet, here they are, buoyed by the academy players. The Mize sisters have more than played a role in that.
“It’s nice because I’ve obviously graduated from high school, so we haven’t really played together,” Zoey said. “This is another opportunity for us to play together now, but it’s great. She gets to see all of her academy friends come up and train, and I see them do great things, and it’s important to have a strong bench.
“I feel like it just reflects on how good our academy is flowing into professionally and the path we’re going to have for girls’ soccer. When they step onto the field, they’re doing their jobs; they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do, so it’s great.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.