SoCal high school soccer player commits to Stanford with help from college recruitment nonprofit

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- From a very young age Aniya Williams has known soccer was her future.

"From the first moment my grandfather put the ball on my foot, I've just loved the sport and I haven't looked back since," Aniya said.

The 17-year-old has dreams of playing in college and eventually professionally, but the same opportunities aren't available to all athletes.

The soccer system can be expensive and players may not have the financial means to pay club dues, buy equipment or travel to showcases. That's where nonprofit Access U comes in.

"I know who I am and I know that I have the capability to make it big in this sport and that's where I want to go. I just don't always have the exposure and the resources to get noticed, so Access U really helped me get exposed and noticed," she said.

Now, that little girl doing toe touches has become a young woman with a 4.4 GPA committed to playing soccer for Stanford University.

In partnership with college recruitment program Gritness, Access U identifies elite young women soccer players and guides them through the college recruitment process. For Aniya, this included funding her trip to the Stanford ID camp.

"Aniya deserves to be at Stanford and she deserves to play. She's good enough on the field and she's certainly good enough in the classroom," said Brad Rothenberg, founder of Access U. "She just, like most of our other 65 girls in the program, they need the expertise of Lindsey, of our college counselors, of our academic tutors to help them get over the hump."

"Access U stepped in for her at the perfect time where, I think she mentioned, she wasn't exposed," said Patty Williams, Aniya's mom. "Nobody knew who Aniya was."

"I wish more knew about it," said Barry Williams, Aniya's dad. "There were just tons of scouts. And so when you talk about exposure, that's the exposure that's super important for these kids. You can't pay for that unless you're in a certain circle."

While Aniya says she was never discouraged during her recruiting process, she also says Access U has been invaluable. Along with helping her get more exposure to more college recruiters, they're also now helping her study for the SATs.

"And now you're seeing so many different kinds of players. Now on our full U.S. National Team, we have what's called the Triple Espresso," said Lindsey Huie, founder of Gritness and former U.S. Women's National Team player. "I mean how awesome is that? For a young kid of color who probably doesn't have very many resources to go, 'I can be that'."

"It may not seem like a big deal because of skin color, but really when I'm a little girl looking up at the TV, and I see somebody who looks like me, it makes me believe in myself more," said Aniya. "It makes me feel like I can make it."