Emily Alvarado is a beast in front of the net. She won Goalkeeper of the Year this season after shutting down offenses all season. Now, Alvarado has one more accolade to add to her collection, and this one might be the most valuable yet — Academic All-American.
Alvarado is the first TCU soccer player in program history to achieve the honorary award of being selected to the team. Qualification for the team is a difficult process that requires a player to have outstanding grades to go along with athletic success. A minimum of a 3.30 GPA is required for consideration. Alvarado finished her Senior year with an overall GPA of 3.66.
Over the course of the 2020-21 season, Alvarado put up fantastic numbers. Her eight shutouts during the season gave her the school record with 21 career shutouts. She tallied a .780 save percentage on the season, which is good enough for 5th overall in the Big-12.
This award may be more important than even Alvarado’s selection to the All-America team in May 2021. That award recognizes her outstanding skills on the field. As many retired pro-athletes will say, there is no substitution for a good education. Alvarado is a Senior who is majoring in Entrepreneurial Management. She is currently attending the Neeley School of Business at TCU.
On the field for TCU last season, Alvarado was a key reason that the team made it to their first-ever NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance. TCU lost that contest to Virginia by one goal in a score of 1-0. It was the first time the two teams met on the field.
In addition to being a star on the college soccer field, Alvarado also plays for the Mexico National Team. Mexico was defeated in the semi-final round by the U.S. Women’s team in February of 2021 and did not appear in the Olympics. Alvarado did not play in Mexico’s loss to the U.S. Women’s team.
Fellow TCU women’s soccer star Grace Collins joined Alvarado on the preliminary Scholastic All-District team. Once a player is selected to All-District, their name is added to the national ballot. Players are then selected to the final All-America team.
The players are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). CoSIDA is an organization that promotes public relations, media, and communications for collegiate student-athletes. The Board of Directors is responsible for voting for players.
TCU Women’s Soccer finished with a record of 12-2-2. The only season loss was to Texas A&M by a score of 0-1. TCU tied Baylor in the season opener. A second game against Baylor in 2021 was canceled due to Covid-19. The Horned Frogs also came up in a tie against Georgetown in the NCAA Third Round finals. That game went to double overtime.
The Scholastic All-America team is broken into three groups by division. Alvarado was named to the second team after qualifying to the first team at the All-District level. The honor is likely one of the last that the recent graduate could add to her impressive trophy case showcasing her impressive career at TCU.