How family and determination forged teenager Alyssa Thompson's World Cup talent
LOS ANGELES — Mario Thompson knew his oldest daughter, Alyssa, was special before she started third grade.
During an orientation for new students at the private Wesley School in North Hollywood, the 8-year-old was matched in a race against the fastest boy in the school. The reason for the race has been lost to time, but not the result: Alyssa smoked the kid.
"The biggest thing I remember is being surprised by how fast she was," said Marquis Gallegos, who lost the race but went on to become a highly recruited safety who will play football at USC this fall.
"We all knew," added Alex Smith, a grade-school teammate of Gallegos, "that she was a great athlete and would do great things."
But it was another 10 years before Thompson really understood the depth of his daughter's gift and the unique path she would have to blaze if that talent was to be fully realized. It would eventually lead her to turn pro before she'd graduated high school and be named to a World Cup roster less than a month after her senior prom.
"I make this comparison, being very respectful about it," he said. "But this is like a Kobe, LeBron type of athlete, right? She has the potential to be great. She has the potential to be the
