‘When she wants to, she dominates:’ Las Vegas soccer player is one of the nation’s top prospects

By Jesse Granger

Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016 | 2 a.m.

When Arlie Jones arrives at the Palo Verde High School soccer fields every morning, the sun hasn’t yet come up.

Her trainer, Leo Gray, shines Jones’ cellphone light on the giant cement staircase leading to the fields while she runs up and down, then winds through cones and practices volley drills — all before most soccer players crawl out of bed to get ready for school. Her dedication to training and raw ability have made Jones one of the best young soccer players in the country.

She just returned stateside after traveling to Northern Ireland for a tournament with the U.S. U-18 national team. Jones helped the U.S. to a second-place finish, earning an assist and named player of the match in the game against England.

“It was really awesome,” Jones said. “It was an honor to start in all three games and be able to represent my country.”

Jones first touched a soccer ball when she was 4 years old and was a natural.

“She was always talented and gifted,” said her mother, Liz Jones. “To compete on the national level, she’s had to work hard on the things that didn’t just come natural, like the fitness aspect of the sport.”

That’s where Gray comes in. He played football at UNLV and won a Super Bowl in 1981 with the Oakland Raiders, and he runs a speed-training program that has worked wonders on Jones.

“When you hear a kid talking about national goals and aspirations, you kind of expect more, so my expectations were already high. But she blew that out the door,” Gray said.

Jones — ranked No. 22 in the nation in her recruiting class — will graduate from Bishop Gorman High School this year before continuing her soccer career at the University of Southern California. She committed to USC on a full-ride scholarship in February 2014, when she was a sophomore.

“We used to go down to Newport Beach a lot, and it was all USC everywhere you look,” Liz Jones said. “Arlie was probably 6 years old, and she looked up and asked what country we were in, and I replied, ‘You’re in Trojan country.’ ”

Jones drew interest from schools all over the country, including UCLA, Florida State, Penn State and Colorado.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to go to USC, but when I became serious about soccer, I never thought that I would play there,” Jones said. “USC has a program that wasn’t as good always, but they got a new coach and are now top-5 in the nation, so it’s a growing team.”

When Jones committed to USC, it was in its first year under Keidane McAlpine, but the Trojans are now ranked No. 4.

Jones has a lot she’d like to accomplish before donning the cardinal and gold. She continues to play for her nationally ranked club team, the San Diego Surf, and would like to capture the state title that has thus far eluded her at Bishop Gorman.

She hopes to continue to play for the U.S. national team, which holds its next camp in December. And while she works on her speed — shaving an entire second off of her 40-yard-dash since starting with Gray — game awareness and soccer IQ are Jones’ best attributes.

“You can see that she’s ahead of the other kids,” Gray said. “She will see something happening and they don’t see it yet, so she has to slow it down a little so that they can be in position to make the play.”

Jones says she likes to pass the ball quickly, but when the game is on the line she can take over.

“You can see how she creates separation from the other people,” Gray said. “When she wants to, she dominates.”