Local High School Soccer Star Earns Arsenal FC Invitation, Seeks Help to Make London Trip Possible

WALTON COUNTY, GA - Highschooler Avery Anderson has been invited to a week long training session with Arsenal FC in London, but needs her community to help get her there.

Avery in action with UFA Loganville (photos courtesy of Jessica Anderson)

Avery Anderson and her fellow UFA Loganville teammates have been given the opportunity to work with Arsenal’s staff in April 2026. Anderson will train each day, plus play three games with/against the other students. She will also get to attend an Arsenal match and have the chance at a meet-and-greet with players and coaches. Anderson will also get the chance to explore London during her first ever trip abroad. The payment deadline is February 2026, and the Andersons will need help to make it on time.

Jessica Anderson, single mom to Avery and two younger brothers, is asking her community for help to raise the funds to get her daughter to London.

The Andersons were recently in a car accident as another driver ignored a traffic officer in a school zone, t-boning the Andersons and totaling their only vehicle. A majority of the money previously saved for the trip is now going towards a new family car. As of December 10th, 2025, after eight months of planning and fundraising, the Anderson’s GoFundMe has only received $950, and a bake sale generated $1,400. This is still a long way from their goal.

Avery has been playing soccer with Blue Springs Academy (now UFA Loganville) since she was 4 years old, and will be celebrating her Sweet 16 this January. She dreams of playing professional soccer, and is currently captain of her travel team. “Soccer means so much to more than just a sport to me,” Avery stated. “It's my escape, the one place where everything else in life disappears and I can just be myself. When I am on the field, I feel free, and in control. Soccer has taught me how to work hard, how to push through challenges and how to believe in myself even when things get hard. It also means teamwork. My teammates are like family- we celebrate wins together, pick each other up after losses, and push one another to be better every day. Playing soccer has given me friendships and a place where I truly belong. In the end Soccer is JOY, STRENGTH, and the thing that makes me feel the most ALIVE.”

“Being a single mom, I am limited in funds of everyday, let alone to get her to a 'better' team,” Ms. Anderson said. “Every year we are in a building year. Smashing the girls from a younger team onto our U16 team.... this alone is frustrating, but unable to afford something 'better' makes me feel like a subpar parent.”

Avery is also a defender on the Walnut Grove High School team, and has earned Best Defensive Player, Coaches’ Choice, and Best Athlete awards. “My mom has been very supportive and always there when things get tough. I don't want this to

burden her,” Avery stated. “Getting to practice is stressful because I have to ask for rides and it gets embarrassing. But she wants me to go on this trip anyway, to make sure I don't miss out.”

Arsenal’s training program has a lot to offer young athletes, and Avery is most interested in “how leaders like captains lead their team, since I am captain this season. I want to learn how to lead without getting overwhelmed and upset. I also am hoping to learn new skills or how to increase my skills I currently have now. I might be open to learning a different position, I'm not sure.” Her mother believes Avery can play any position she sets her mind to.

Other than the training, “I am most excited about getting outside of the US,” Avery says. ”I have never traveled outside of the US, this will be my first experience!! I would like to go see Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral. or anything on a double decker bus!”

Avery looks up to Team USA players Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, Julie Ertz, Carli Lloyd and Tobin Heath. “I look up to these players because of how they are with the fans,” she says. Avery hopes to attend and play at the University of Georgia, with hopes of becoming a surgeon. She roots for the USWNT, Atlanta United, Barcelona, and her own teams at home.

Avery is also very active in her church community, attending several bible study classes a week. Outside of soccer, she enjoys pickleball, arts and crafts, volleyball, fishing, golfing, going to school football games, and attending her boyfriend’s basketball games.

Donations to get Avery to London can be done through her GoFundMe here. “I cannot let this brave, smart, dedicated, hard-working, silly girl down,” Ms. Anderson stated.