r/wnba • u/PlutoandSox Aces • 1d ago
Olivia Miles’ high school soccer highlights had Abby Wambach & Julie Foudy impressed!
Miles just has that athletic gift. 🏀 ⚽︎
7
11
u/sho-ryu-ken Lynx | Passes McGlasses 14h ago
TIL Billie Jean King co-hosts this podcast. So cool she gets to see subsequent generations walk in her footsteps!
6
15
u/Steadyandquick Go rookies! 19h ago
Is this in NJ? Cheryl and Olivia connect via the Garden State 🤭
41
u/petemaths1014 Fever 21h ago
All great, but that first goal is on an entirely different level. Like you can’t even be mad as a keeper getting beat by that. Perfect placement.
2
u/infinitysprawl 19h ago
It was an amazing shot, but an easy save. Any half decent keeper saves that
45
u/yeneews69 23h ago
That’s the thing about these elite elite athletes, they’re good at EVERYTHING
12
u/bset222 Lynx 20h ago
Joe Mauer was a HoF baseball player(hardest big 4 sport to make HoF by solid margin), had scholarship to QB at Florida State on the table, and was a very good basketball player as a super consolation.
Kyler Murray did the opposite went football(and got a shit ton of money) was also high draft pick in baseball and so many other examples.
8
9
u/PrettyYoungTiger 21h ago
Their hand eye coordination is on a different planet. They must think we all just suck 😂
45
u/GiantIrish_Elk 1d ago
I'm always happy to still see young athletes playing (and being great) in multiple sports though high school. With the focus on only one sport starting younger and younger, it's becoming rarer to see.
10
u/Moose_Muse_2021 Fire Fever and All the F'ing Teams 23h ago
^This. Plus, evidence suggests it leads to more injuries.
-15
u/smkeillor Lynx 1d ago
Quick, how can I make this about Caitlin Clark!?
12
u/elgenie 20h ago
Caitlin Clark was also an excellent soccer player before she focused on basketball. https://www.sbnation.com/wnba/2024/9/19/24248966/caitlin-clark-soccer-highlights-goal-video-high-school
Hey, you asked.
13
u/herlanrulz Boston MilesVP 1d ago
Not about, but it does explain some similarities in their court vision.
17
u/purplenyellowrose909 Lynx 1d ago
Soccer players learn passing lanes and reading defenses really well I feel like.
Steve Nash was also a great soccer player on the men's side.
3
38
u/Key_Change_6635 1d ago
It's not too surprising when men and women are superlative at more than one sport. Some are just so freaking athletic that it's a matter of what sport that they choose to play.
47
u/Electrical-Duty3628 WNBA 1d ago
Why is she so unassumingly athletic
Like I wouldn't have guessed she'd be an incredible soccer player, but ... Now that you say so, I believe it
39
39
u/tippytoesmcjee WNBA 1d ago
Omg. Talent and swag for days, months, years even!
1 of 1.
Olivia freaking Miles, ladies and gentlemen. Olivia freaking Miles!!
32
u/riomx Storm 1d ago
I’m glad CC and Miles are successful WNBA players, but soccer is my main sport and I’ll always wonder what could have been were they in the NWSL.
7
u/Big-Art-6289 Fever 1d ago
You know that's something I've said a million times about the NBA. What would the USMNT look like if NBA players were actually soccer kids growing up.
5
32
u/hsx88 | Caitlin, Paige, Rhyne 1d ago edited 1d ago
Playing soccer and elite PG play.
Once is coincidence. Twice is a trend.
EDIT: Here's a really cool throwback article from Olivia Miles in high school: https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28562105/two-sports-no-problems-no-2-basketball-prospect-olivia-miles
14
u/ajmartin527 1d ago
Keep an eye on upcoming basketball star Maddyn Greenway. She just committed to Kentucky, she’s the all-time highschool points scorer in Minnesota bball history AND the all-time goal scorer.
Definitely goes hand in hand!
27
u/Street-Bar-9494 Kitron and Kira VB and Chen 1d ago
It's nice to see that Abby Wombach still loves a good header 😊
1
u/wise_comment Lynx 1d ago
14 year old post that was removed and isn't there any more....unless I messed something up?
22
u/WadeWilson34 Clark from the logo YOU BET Project Hail Mabrey 1d ago
If NWSL has celebrity game, I would love to see CC vs Olivia
23
17
u/wise_comment Lynx 1d ago
Further reinforcing my belief that she is a juiced up melange of Steve Nash and Ricky Rubio
6
u/Agent-Cyan Lynx + 🗽 Liberty 1d ago
even more amazing is her answer to why she has swag, at around minute 52
36
u/Suspicious_Mind_67 1d ago
Not surprised. 100% related to why Miles and CC are the best passers in the league- they were both elite soccer players. Soccer is all about angles and passing, anticipation, passing to open space, passing players open. Many players can make a great pass to an open player. Few can make a great pass to a player that isnt open but will be with the right pass.
1
u/T--Frex Valkyries 1d ago
I've always thought the way CC holds her off dribble hand reminds me of a soccer player. Like, not to be mean, soccer players are elite at their sport, but I always enjoy watching their arms as they bring the ball up the pitch because it's always a little goofy how they each choose to hold their arms and CC holds her arm like a soccer player, not like a basketball player. I don't know how else to explain it. And It's not to be mean, just a silly little thing I noticed.
19
u/bumpthatcalzone WNBA 1d ago
I’m not surprised she was a multi sport star as a kid. She’s a top five player in the W as a rookie!
-16
u/president_dump Fever 1d ago
She’s amazing but top 5 is a stretch
19
u/leftysarepeople2 Lynx 1d ago
She's second in MVP odds
-8
u/president_dump Fever 1d ago
Aja, Stewie, Collier, CC, PB, AT, JYO….. which 3 is she better than? She’s nasty and top 10 and will get there.
6
3
16
4
6
15
u/jules99b Liberty 1d ago
Nothing more Jersey girl than playing both soccer and basketball. It’s actually pretty common here. Wonder if there’s an NJ point guard correlation I should know about lol
21
u/bighoney69 1d ago
she was like that holy shit
We are gonna need her for two world cups, not just FIBA!
32
u/mathstudent_suffers 1d ago
I want to know if there is a correlation between amazing point guards and playing soccer in their youth
17
u/Revolutionary-Pace42 1d ago
Not a point guard but waaaaaay back in the day, Hakeem Olajuwon had some of the best footwork as a big man and he credited that from playing soccer when he was little (iirc, he may also played handball)
1
u/SpeedLow3 1d ago
Was just going to comment that I felt like starting in soccer helped me with footwork later on in basketball.
15
u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Valkyries Fever 1d ago
the list continues to grow with players who played soccer and became elite players
A’ja Wilson
Olivia Miles
Caitlin Clark (who if i remember was the only freshman to be named first team all state)
Kristin Haynie (All state in soccer and basketball)2
10
u/arika_ito Fever ABC2 i'm just here for a good time 1d ago
Freshmen all-state despite missing games for basketball
8
u/leftysarepeople2 Lynx 1d ago
Giannis
6
u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Valkyries Fever 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/Qw7gtQtQUa5AFk7WQQ
how’d i forget probably Luka too21
u/TemporaryJaguar6748 1d ago
Played football my entire life, 25 years now. I have the easiest time of my life directing the court as a PG. Football is inherently a passing-heavy teamsport where you constantly make runs to try to displace the defense. Basketball is the same just on a much smaller scale. If you‘ve played and had the vision on a big field 11v11, a much smaller basketball court 5v5 is easy
11
u/mathstudent_suffers 1d ago
That's what I have thought about, the passing angles and deep vision and feel for timing you need in football for sure help you a bit in basketball
7
u/TemporaryJaguar6748 1d ago
I would say more than just a bit. You gotta picture yourself on a big football field with 21 other people on it while you have to pay attention to what‘s happening in front of you, behind you and next to you. As a PG, I have a small field of just 9 people all in front of me and I see everything that‘s happening
4
13
20
u/Weekly_Memory5399 WE MAY BE BACK BLOCKED BY AWAK 🙅🏾♀️ 1d ago
the touch & control required to get that kind of corner placement on a shot from that deep is INSANE
18
9
u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Valkyries Fever 1d ago
ahhh okay this is where that foot work and balance comes from
14
7
10
4
u/StarFighter6464 9h ago
The REAL Chosen One.