June 19, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M head soccer coach G Guerrieri announced the addition of midfielder Catalina Clavijo to the 2009 roster on Friday.
Having played for the U-15 Women's Canadian National team, Clavijo comes to Texas A&M from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada where she was named the club and city player of the year as a member of the South End United soccer club.
In addition to her national team experience, Clavijo was selected to participate at the Regional Training Center (Winnipeg, Canada) and the National Training Center (Edmonton, Canada) after representing Manitoba in the All-Star National Championship. Clavijo played for the Manitoba Provincial team and won a bronze medal at the Rocky Mountain Cup in 2003 and played in the 2006 Philadelphia College Showcase.
"Cat is a terrific young player who we think will fit very well into the technical style and rhythm of our program," said Guerrieri. "We're also excited about the smooth level of international sophistication she's going to inject into our team."
A graduate of Shaftesbury High School, Clavijo was the only girl to play and win a Carioca championship on a boy's beach soccer team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
An all-around athlete, Clavijo ran track and field and cross country and also played volleyball, basketball and badminton. She won two gold medals and a bronze medal on the mixed relay team in the Manitoba Marathon. She also earned a bronze medal in a Manitoba Provincial cross country run.
Clavijo is the oldest daughter of Alfonso and Claudia Clavijo and has a younger sibling, Camilo. She was vice president of the student council, a member of the yearbook committee and a member of the 2008 Aid for Darfur charities. Clavijo plans to major in kinesiology.
Clavijo is the eighth high school senior to sign a national letter of intent to play soccer at Texas A&M in 2009. She joins Katherine Bartley (College Station, Texas), Kimberly Castleberry (McKinney, Texas), Lyndsey Gnatzig (Humble, Texas), Chelsea Jones (Belton, Texas), Christina Navalta (Carrollton, Texas), Mary Schmidt (Orange, Calif.) and Nora Skelton (Austin, Texas) who all signed in February.
The 2009 Aggie soccer season kicks off with an exhibition game on Aug. 15 and the regular season opens at the Aggie Soccer Stadium on Aug. 22.