If not for a nasty fall in gymnastics when she was little, Providence Day’s Blane McElroy might not have become the best girls’ soccer player in North Carolina.
“I was 8,” she said, “and I landed on my head. And after that, I was scared to flip backwards anymore.”
Fast forward 10 years and McElroy has become the signature player on what is, at least right now, the state’s signature team.
Providence Day has won four of the past five N.C. Independent Schools’ state championships and has been ranked No. 1 nationally multiple times in recent years.
This season the Chargers are 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in MaxPreps’ national poll. McElroy — the reigning N.C. Gatorade and N.C. Soccer Coaches Association state player of the year — has seven goals and six assists.
A year ago, she had 39 goals and 31 assists while leading her team to a 24-1-1 record and its sixth state title in 12 years.
Tuesday night, Providence Day plays a 7 p.m. game at public school state champion Marvin Ridge, which is ranked No. 22 nationally.
. “Last year, the girl won just about everything, all the awards and everything on the field, too,” said Charlotte Catholic coach Gary Hoilett, who’s team is 9-0-1 and ranked No. 5 nationally. “She’s intelligent and not one of those players who is just an attacking threat or a defensive threat. She does work on both sides of the ball.
“I don’t want to say she’s a complete player, because nobody is really a complete player, but on the high school level, she’s that kind.”
Hoilett started coaching at Charlotte Catholic in 1994 and has coached or coached against a string of top-flight national-caliber talent. He said McElroy is “one of the better high school talents I’ve seen over the years.”
McElroy said that skill was developed at home, battling her sister, Devin, nearly every day.
A junior on the Chargers’ team, Devin McElroy has four assists and four goals this season and has committed to Miami (OH). A year ago, Devin had 16 goals and 13 assists.
“It helped build my creativity,” Blane McElroy said of working out with her sister. “It really allows both of our creativity to show. We get competitive but we bring the best out of each other, and we have a similar game.”
McElroy’s ability and playing style attracted lots of college coaches, and nearly a year ago, she committed to play at Purdue. But shortly after she made a verbal commitment, she said she started to have doubts; Indiana is cold and it’s far from home.
“It just seemed like it wasn’t going to be the best fit,” she said, “and I started talking to coaches that had been in my process originally and I realized that I really loved what coach (Tim) Santoro and N.C. State had to offer.”
McElroy committed to the Wolfpack in September. Only in November, Santoro was fired and McElroy again decided to open up her recruitment. She ended up on a visit to Princeton. All of a sudden, the cold didn’t matter so much.
“It’s amazing there,” she said. “I stepped on campus on my visit and it just clicked.”
Her recruiting journey, she said, helped her mature and helped change her attitude about playing college soccer.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” she said, “and I ended up in the right place. I realized that I wanted to pursue a more academic school. I want to major in business economics.”
That strength of will and that mindset is what makes McElroy stand out from her peers, Providence Day coach Dan Dudley said.
“She’s driven,” Dudley said. “She’s motivated. She’s committed. She’s one of the small percentage of kids who does extra on top of what the team does. As a coach, you can put her in certain positions and teams will try to mark her out of the game. But you have got to give her freedom to go and adjust on the fly. Not every player can do that and they will struggle.”
Dudley, recognizing McElroy’s gifts, said he coaches her hard and holds her accountable, but still marvels at her drive to get better.
“That drive is probably one of her biggest assets,” he said, “and her soccer IQ, that intelligence. When she came in, I knew she was a good player and had talent. I knew she had that engine, but the older she gets, the more games she’s playing, she’s just getting better and better over time.
“She’s moving in the right direction, for sure.”
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Langston Wertz Jr. is an award-winning sports journalist who has worked at the Observer since 1988. He’s covered everything from Final Fours and NFL to video games and Britney Spears. Wertz -- a West Charlotte High and UNC grad -- is the rare person who can answer “Charlotte,” when you ask, “What city are you from.”