It's OK that Chestatee's Alexis Rebollar's soccer ability tends to surpass her actual knowledge of the game from time to time. Just chalk that up to Rebollar, a forward, becoming one of the state's most proficient scorers as only a sophomore in 2011.

This year, Rebollar produced 35 goals, including scoring three-or-more in one game five times, and five assists en route to being named the Georgia Coaches Association Class AAA Player of the Year.

For her efforts, Rebollar is also The Times' Girls Player of the Year.

"I honestly didn't expect to have a year like this," said Rebollar, who had only nine goals as a freshman. "I just wanted to score one more goal than I did last year."

Now that the talent has been clearly established, she can just focus on getting all the soccer lingo down.

In the Lady War Eagles' first game of the season, Rebollar exploded for her first career hat trick in a 5-1 win against Walnut Grove. The only thing was, she didn't have any idea what folks were talking about when they referenced her amazing 3-goal performance.

Even when her younger brother Zico, 15, asked what it felt like to score a hat trick, she just politely kept the unfamiliarity to herself with regards to the new term.
But it wouldn't stay foreign for long.

Rebollar broke off outstanding performances all season for Chestatee, while also developing her field awareness, as the team made the second round of the state playoffs.

"She's a great asset to have on the team and has a lot of potential," Chestatee coach Mark Dunn said.

For Rebollar, part of her success on the pitch is being able to hang with the boys. Not only did she play on an all boys team once as a kid, but she also works extensively on the technical aspect of the game with her father Paco, and her three brothers. The family works for 2-3 hours each day on a field near its home to perfect dribbling skills, ball control and running to craft her physical condition. She's also played on a YMCA Club team out of Allen Creek Soccer Complex.

Rebollar's motivation all year was to top what the team did in 2010, as the Lady War Eagles were held out of the postseason. She felt they should've done better than that, and she wanted to keep it from happening again.

"We were a lot more experienced this year and got to know each other better," Rebollar said.

Not only is Rebollar a proficient scorer for the Lady War Eagles, she's also developing a knack for planning what to do with the ball in advance. No longer will she wildly shoot for a goal without a clear shot, instead seeking out an open teammate as her first priority. Dunn said the next step for Rebollar is learning how to react with two and three players marking her every move next season.

"She's a very athletic player and wants to learn," Dunn said.

On top of developing physically in the game, Chestatee's striker learned to handle difficult situations more maturely on the pitch. She recalls one instance when a player from another team fouled and pushed her on purpose. Rebollar said that the instigator got the response she was looking for when Rebollar called her out.

However, Rebollar's mother Mercedes, made sure she'd never react to a taunt like that again.

"My mom said, ‘we didn't raise you like that,'" Rebollar recalled.

With two more years remaining in high school, Rebollar feels like she's now gaining a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the game. She's also set her sights high for the Lady War Eagles for next season.

"I expect us to go undefeated," Rebollar said.