By the time Queen Anne’s County High School senior and three-sport standout Abby Blanchard turned 11, she had already lived and played soccer in three countries. But, it was in soccer-crazed England that the sport became Blanchard’s obsession, and she played there for four years.
“I had soccer practice every day,” Blanchard explains. “It was just a part of everyday life. We just went out and kicked the ball around all the time. Soccer over there is like football over here. It just made me more passionate about the sport at a younger age.”
Blanchard had an opportunity to revisit her fond soccer memories when her club team, the Shore Football Club, went to England for a tournament this past summer.
“I really like the atmosphere over there,” says Blanchard, who competes year-round for Shore and also played four years in Germany in her younger days before moving to England. “It’s just soccer, soccer, soccer. We were outside of London and there were three different stadiums we could play in.”
When Blanchard first came to the United States, she was surprised that same level of intensity didn’t exist here.
“I had to hide it more,” she says of her passion for soccer. “Over in England, I could just talk to anyone about it. Over here, the normal conversation would be about baseball or football. It definitely wasn’t about soccer. I wouldn’t say I talked about it a lot.”
She will attend McDaniel College and major in business with a minor in international studies. But Blanchard still has a fondness for Europe, and she wants to study abroad. One option is McDaniel’s sister school in Budapest, Hungry.
“They offer programs such as literacy memory, food history, and programs centered around culture in central Europe,” says Blanchard, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average. “I would just like to study different cultures.”
Germany, England, and France are the countries that most interest her.
“I really want to get a job oversees,” she says. “I just want something where I would be traveling.”
Shore Football Club Coach Mike Leach says Blanchard’s playing soccer overseas has put her way ahead of other players in high school.
“It gave her an early set of skills that she kept working on,” Leach says. “Over there, the training in England is so much more intense. She brought the skills she learned in Europe over here and started with such a good foundation. When I first saw her in ninth grade, she was further along than other girls her age. She was a ninth grader and had the skills of a senior.”
So, it comes as no surprise that Blanchard had a memorable career at Queen Anne’s.
The Bayside Conference named the 5-foot-6-inch Blanchard as its Player of the Year this fall after she totaled team highs in goals (23) and assists (13) to lead the Lions to an 11-2 record.
The forward had the winning goal in a 2-0 victory over heated rival Kent Island and scored the game-winner in the last two minutes in a 3-2 conquest of North Caroline.
“When she has the ball on her feet, she makes good things happen,” Queen Anne’s County Girls Soccer Coach Mike Kern says. “She is just a playmaker and makes everyone around her better.”
The four-year starter set school records in points (118) and goals (85).
Blanchard, who plays basketball and tennis, too, scored 26 goals as a junior to earn honorable mention all-state honors, and had 21 goals as a sophomore.
“She shattered both of the soccer records,” Kern says. “No one had 100 points before her. The most goals anyone had before her was 62.”
Leach also coached the Kent Island girls soccer team and his squad had its hands full when facing Blanchard.
“All the teams key on her because she is so dangerous with the ball,” Leach says. “She creates so much offense for her team.”
Leach and Kern look forward to Blanchard playing at Division III McDaniel.
“I think she could have played at a higher level than McDaniel, but that’s where she wanted to go,” Kern says. “I think she will have a great career there and be a leader on the team. She has the potential to break records there.”
