McALLEN — McAllen High senior Westyn Henderson has been compared to Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan by her coach for her ability to take over a soccer game when it is on the line.
Her playmaking ability on the soccer field and achievements prove the comparison to be true at her level of play.
On Monday, she added another mark to list of soccer accolades by announcing her official commitment to play women’s soccer at Texas A&M University.
“I have been waiting for this day since seventh grade when I decided I wanted to play Division I soccer,” Henderson said. “Today was really just the cherry on top of this whole process.”
Henderson helped lift the girls soccer team to three District 30-6A championships since joining the team as freshmen in 2016. In 2018, the Bulldogs reached the UIL state semifinal. And in 2017, she played on the youth soccer team that won the US Girls Soccer under 17 National President’s Cup.
Her 18 goals and 26 assists during her 2018 campaign, including her stunning goal in the regional semifinal and assist on Ava Alaniz’s game-winner in the regional championship, secured her spot as The Monitor’s All-Area Player of the Year.
At the signing Henderson thanked all the people who helped and supported her throughout her soccer experience.
Her father, Chris Henderson, believes she is the first Division I athlete to come from the Valley to earn a scholarship in women’s soccer at the flagship school.
Regarded as an unselfish player, Westyn Henderson is an expert at feeding her teammates the ball for a score.
“Ava scores a lot of goals and I’m usually the one who feeds it to her,” Henderson said.
The two entered joined the sport soccer together and for national signing day they celebrating together, as well.
Henderson said her recruiting process began in middle school.
“I started to get my name out there after attending coaches camps since the seventh grade,” Henderson said. “I didn’t start to get looked at until my freshman year.”
Henderson said she narrowed down her scholarship offers her sophomore year and committed to the Aggies in May 2018.
Her most memorable game thus far was against Lake Travis, when she assisted Alaniz’s for a game-winning goal to kick the door open to the 2018 state tournament.
“After that goal we became the first girl’s soccer team in the Valley to go that far,” Henderson said.