Jannelle Flaws plans to be a head soccer coach someday, but for now she’s chasing a different dream.
Chosen by the Chicago Red Stars in January with the 33rd pick of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League draft, Flaws currently plays for the Red Stars Reserves as she works toward earning a spot on the first team.
“I’ll keep working hard and keep learning, because I’ve already learned a ton about playing at this level,” Flaws said. “I’ll work to do what they ask of me while staying true to the kind of player I am and what I do well. It’s a learning curve and like every rookie, I’m doing everything I can to get there.”
Flaws, a former Glenbrook South standout, played collegiate soccer at Illinois under coach Janet Rayfield. In 2012, after rehabilitating a torn ACL for the second time, Flaws approached Rayfield with a pivotal decision weighing on her.
“I told her I didn’t know if soccer was what I wanted to pursue anymore,” Flaws said. “I just wasn’t sure. She told me she’d support my decision but that she believed I just needed to have that feeling of success I had back in high school.”
Two weeks later, Flaws scored her first college hat-trick against Illinois State. Her love for the game returned and Flaws went on to be named Big Ten forward of the year and an NSCAA All-American in 2014. She also set a new career scoring record at Illinois, finishing with 54 goals and 122 points before her college career ended in 2015.
The Red Stars’ season runs from April to October. Flaws currently trains from four to six hours daily with the team, honing the skills needed to compete at the professional level.
“Maintaining your body throughout the season, in order to compete the whole time, is something that you need to do. It becomes so important to maintain your body,” Flaws said.
“Every aspect of the game is faster — tactical decisions, technical abilities, speed of play, physicality — everything is that much faster than it is in college. You have to know exactly what you’re going to do with the ball before you get it, or you’re definitely going to lose it.”
This spring, Flaws worked as a first-year assistant under Loyola coach Craig Snower, and she has annually worked at summer camps for Snower since graduating from Glenbrook South in 2010 as a two-time Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-state player.
“After she graduated from college she was looking for extra opportunities to coach, so we brought her on to the Loyola staff,” Snower said. “She’s terrific. She has a great young mind. She wants to have a positive impact, and that’s a real commodity.”
Once the Red Stars’ season ends, Flaws plans to coach for FC United, working with youth players in Chicago’s northern suburbs.
“I owe a lot to the coaches I had growing up because coaches changed the kind of person I am and want to be,” Flaws said. “Having role models like that changed my life in a drastic way. They made me want to give back and share my love for the game with the youth players.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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