(June 4, 2004) — The world of sports is a competitive field. Everyone wants to become the next all-star point guard or the greatest wide receiver, though out of every 100 people, only very few with enough talent and skill will succeed in becoming a professional athlete. These few gifted people must at most times balance family, friends, school and manage to put in hours of practice to become the best. One such athlete in the making is Erika Akopyan. Akopyan, now 15, said her love for soccer developed as a young girl, as it was her father who got her involved in the sport. At the age of 10, she began to take the sport seriously when she joined the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and played in the league for three years. Now she’s Number 15, the star forward of the Glendale High School Nitros Varsity team and only in her sophomore year. “It’s a team sport,” Akopyan said. “I don’t think of myself as the number one player; everyone contributes.” Soccer is not only a game for her, it’s an escape: “Instead of hitting a person I take it out on the ball. [It] really helps to relieve the stress and lets me vent,” she said. Although she doesn’t plan on making it a career, she says she may use the sport as a means of procuring a scholarship for college. “If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it’s okay,” Akopyan said. After playing for almost six years, she says that what has kept her interested so long is the intensity of the game. “[Soccer] is always different, ever changing, and always surprising; you just never know what is going to happen,” she said. Soon she feels that soccer will become a more popular sport in the U.S. and someday will take over basketball and football.