"There's always some story or tidbit involving Meila Brewer that will make her teammates laugh or gush about playing alongside the freshman center back who's believed to be the youngest athlete in UCLA history. Why, it wasn't so long ago that Brewer floored everybody else on the women's soccer team when each player shared how old they were when the pandemic hit. As almost everybody ticked off one year or another in high school, all eyes turned to Brewer."
"Coach Margueritte Aozasa has made an informal game of asking anyone who inquires about having a 16-year-old on her roster to pick her out when scanning the players on the field. No one has gotten it right on the first handful of attempts. "They'll point out three or four players," Aozasa said, "and I'll be like, 'No, it's probably the one you would least expect.'""
"There's been no underage shrinking, Brewer living up to every moment as fourth-seeded UCLA (11-5-3) prepares to open the NCAA tournament at 6 p.m. Saturday at home against Pepperdine (11-6-2). OK, maybe a hint of her youth emerged when she was asked how she felt about playing on college soccer's biggest stage. "Freaking out," Brewer said. "Like, when you think about it, I'm soooo excited, that's like the only way you can put it.""
Meila Brewer is a 16-year-old freshman center back at UCLA who often prompts teammates to laugh or gush with anecdotes and youthful habits, such as lacking a driver's license and missing movie references. Teammates believe she may be the youngest athlete in UCLA history, highlighted when she revealed she was in fifth grade when the pandemic hit. Coach Margueritte Aozasa notes that outsiders rarely identify Brewer on sight. At 5-foot-8, Brewer pairs notable height with experience from professional training and U.S. youth national team play, and she has missed games due to recent U-17 World Cup participation.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]