Priest Fulfilling Childhood Dream

BOULDER—Colorado freshman Ava Priest is not your ordinary freshman roaming campus for the Buffaloes this fall.

The 17-year-old striker graduated from right down the road at Boulder High School a year early, having decided to reclassify from the class of 2024 to 2023. A decision that came early on in her junior year of high school.

Priest had options open to her. She could have chosen to spend this season in Spain, a place where she was comfortable and already had success. Priest previously trained with Mislata, SPF and Deportivo in Spain and help Mislata win a Valencia Cup title.

"I decided to come [to CU] early because I was ready for the next thing," Priest explained about her decision. "I decided in October of my junior year [2022] that I wanted to graduate early. At first, I was going to go overseas and play for a year before going to college, but I talked to the coaches here and that helped convince me to join the team right away."

Her final year of high school became a grind to make sure she got all her graduation requirements met a full year ahead of schedule.

"To graduate early I had to get a bunch of volunteer hours to make up for the elective credits that I didn't have," Priest added. "I took a few classes online, packed my schedule junior year and grinded it out."

Combine the added schoolwork with a full club schedule with Colorado Rush and there were not a lot of hours left in the day.

"It was really tough," Priest expressed. "If I'm being honest, there were things that were cut. I didn't sleep very much, but it was worth it. I'm really glad I did it. I'm really happy to be here."

Her choice paid off in Colorado's season opener against Northern Colorado. Priest was one of three freshmen to earn a starting spot in head coach Danny Sanchez's opening lineup.

"The world game on the women's side is blowing up," Sanchez commented. "The NWSL has signed numerous teenagers to professional contracts. [Soccer] is starting to get like the world game, where you don't have to go to college. Elsewhere in the world, they are signing professional contracts as 14 and 15-year-olds.

"Ava was going to go over to Europe and see what happens. We watched her play this summer alongside Lawson Willis on a summer league team. We kind of said that if she was going to go to Spain that she might as well come down the road [to CU] for better facilities, a better training level and a better environment to develop her long-term goals. We're excited she's here and is the youngest player in CU history."

Priest was in no way a stranger to the CU soccer program. She attended many games at Prentup Field as a fan, helped out as a ball girl and got to walk out with the Buffs' starting lineup.

"I came to every single game as a kid," Priest admitted. "I was a huge fan. I don't know if you remember [CU alum] Danica Evans, but she used to do the flip throw. I started doing the flip throw because of her. I watched her during a game and I was like, 'I'm going to do the same thing.'"

Evans wasn't the only former Buff to leave an impact on Priest. She pointed to former Buffs Stephanie Zuniga, Erin Greening and Jalen Tompkins as being some of her "idols."

"They were all really competitive," Priest recalled. "They were really good players and had a lot of energy. They were also good people off the field. So even when I was like nine years old I felt like they were big sisters to me."

Priest played in 58 minutes in her debut on Thursday and awed the crowd with multiple flip throws.

"It was crazy," she noted. "It was like everything went full circle. I went from watching all the games to playing with the team. I can't believe it worked like that."

Priest and the Buffaloes will be back home against Marquette on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Mountain Network.

Sunday is Youth Day at Prentup Field. Kids 12 and under will receive a free CU pop it toy.

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Players Mentioned

Ava Priest

Lawson Willis